


Noah Minyard-Josten

by Aleekae



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew and Neil adopt a kid!, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Renison but like, background Renison - Freeform, its not as cheesy as it sounds i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-10-27 21:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 44,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10816779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleekae/pseuds/Aleekae
Summary: Neil bunched the raincoats together and squeezed the excess water down the drain. He knew that someone else was in one of the stalls, but he didn’t pay them any attention until he heard sniffling, as if they were holding in tears. Neil dropped the raincoats in the sink and wiped his hands on his jeans, peeking under the stall to confirm that yes, it was a crying child.In which Andrew and Neil frequently go to the library, adopt a kid, and eat Dairy Queen. But not necessarily in that order.





	1. Chapter 1

Missouri was no stranger to ongoing thunderstorms, as Neil and Andrew found out after only a few weeks of living there. It had been raining for days on end, a soft downpour that began after weeks of sunshine. It was the kind of rain that wouldn’t stop until creeks were turned to rivers and flowerbeds were turned to birdbaths, coating everything in a wet sheen that glistened in the rare appearance of sunshine between showers.

It was the off season for Exy, and their coach had practically forced them to stay away from the court for at least a couple of weeks. Maintenance was repainting, and with the sudden change in weather it was proving to be a longer process than originally planned. Neil was antsy at best after being holed up inside for more than half a day and Andrew needed something to distract him from his own mind. Oddly enough, they both found the local library to be a welcome distraction.

Andrew started going to the library every afternoon like clockwork. He was entertaining the idea of going to law school after retiring from Exy, and the library had a really extensive law dictionary collection on the second floor. Neil tagged along sometimes, picking up crime and mystery novels to read while waiting on Andrew. Towards the end of the day however, Neil would find himself engrossed in mathematics workbooks meant for SAT students. Andrew would just roll his eyes and help him reshelve the books that he never got around to reading.

The library workers were a bunch of gossiping old ladies. They recognized them as the town’s famous Exy assholes who worked for the big league team in the next city over, but otherwise they really couldn’t care less about the strange couple that frequented their library. Sue, the senior librarian, ran the children’s programs during the summer and made sure to invite all the kids from the nearby elementary school. Sue, the kids, Andrew, and Neil were almost always the only ones in the library at any given time, and Andrew wouldn’t have it any other way.  

It was raining pretty hard outside when Neil and Andrew stumbled into the library one late afternoon. They could hear Sue reading a book to the children on one end of the building, so they attempted to be quiet as they shook off the water from their raincoats and wiped their feet on the entrance rugs. Nicky had given them raincoats for Christmas last year, insisting that he needed to “keep up the tradition” of getting them matching outerwear. Andrew drew the line at wearing the matching red rain boots, but that didn’t stop Neil from keeping them on the shoe rack in their apartment just in case Nicky decided to visit.    

Neil held out his hand for Andrew’s coat, draping it over his arm as he made his way towards the nearest restroom. Andrew headed upstairs for his designated corner of the library, knowing that Neil would join him as soon as he finished wringing out their coats in the sink.

Once he was in the restroom, Neil bunched the raincoats together and squeezed the excess water down the drain. He knew that someone else was in one of the stalls, but he didn’t pay them any attention until he heard sniffling, as if they were attempting to hold in tears. Neil dropped the raincoats in the sink and wiped his hands on his jeans, peeking under the stall to confirm that yes, it was a crying child. He knocked hesitantly on the stall door.

“I’m in here!” The kid yelled, high-pitched and wavering like he had been crying for hours.

Neil rolled his eyes, “I could hear your sniffles a mile away. Is everything alright?”

“Uh yeah… I think.”

As hard as the kid was trying to put up a tough front, Neil could smell the lie a mile away. The fact that there was a puddle of blood pooling in the middle of the stall really didn’t help assuage his suspicions either. Neil remembered late nights at public libraries in dilapidated towns, stitching himself together with supplies from the nearest convenience store and a bottle of vodka while his mom stared down at him. Her whispers of _faster, Chris, faster!_ echoed in his mind as he sucked in a sharp breath.

“You’re bleeding.” It wasn’t a question.

“I guess I am.”

“I know how to stitch a wound, if it’s bad.”

“Congratulations.”

Neil laughed. This kid was a little bit too much like Andrew. “I have a kit in my car, I’ll go grab it. Don’t move.”

“Yeah, I’ll just… stay here.” The kid tapered off towards the end of his sentence, like he didn’t expect Neil to come back. Neil ran out of the bathroom, making sure to fast-walk semi-casually across the lobby where the librarians could see him from the front desk. He ran through a few puddles on his way to the Maserati, the cuffs of his jeans clinging to his ankles by the time he reached the car. After rifling through instruction manuals, sunglasses, spare workout clothes and semi-empty bottles of alcohol, Neil finally found the medical kit in the glovebox. Neil insisted on making the kit after Andrew got in a fight outside of Eden’s last year. Neither of them liked hospitals and Abby lived three states over, so the logical solution was to hit up the nearest Walgreen’s at three in the morning for questionable supplies. Needless to say, they had Abby make the kit the next time they visited Palmetto.

The stall door was unlocked and opened by the time Neil made it back. The kid was waiting patiently, perched on top of the toilet with some bloodied toilet paper pressed against his arm. He was shorter than Neil expected, but looked like he was either in third or fourth grade. He had light hazel eyes that contrasted with his brown skin, a dark dusting of freckles mottling the bridge of his nose. He looked almost identical to Dan, but with Andrew’s eyes.  
  
“What’s your name, kid?” Neil asked, crouching in front of him and opening the kit.

“Noah,” not a lie, “what’s yours?”

“Neil. Nice to meet you, Noah.”

Noah nodded distractedly, his eyes tracking every movement Neil made towards the medical supplies. Neil wasn’t used to being watched while he worked, but then again he had never patched up a child before. He tried his best to channel his inner Abby, making sure not to touch Noah’s skin as he carefully peeled away the layers of toilet paper.

Noah’s arm had been slit from shoulder to elbow, deep enough to warrant stitches but not bad enough that Neil worried about excessive blood loss. He pulled out a few alcohol swabs and tried to clean the wound as best he could. “Weapon?”

“Jack Daniel’s.”

Neil nodded as he traced the jagged edges of the wound with the swab. He had never been cut by a broken bottle before, but he couldn’t imagine it was pleasant. He looked up and caught Noah’s eyes as he stared down at him, tracking the kid’s emotional state. He seemed genuinely unaffected, the tear tracks on his cheeks dried and brushed away by a swipe of the hand probably mere moments before Neil re-entered the restroom.

He decided to test the waters, not bothering to warn Noah before grabbing the needle and piercing his skin at the right angle. A quick intake of breath was all he got.

After a couple minutes of stitching, Noah shifted underneath Neil’s grasp. Neil immediately removed his hands from the wound. Instead of running away however, the kid lifted his free hand and tapped Neil on the upper cheek. “Weapon?”

“Dashboard lighter.” Neil responded.

“Ouch.”

Neil huffed out a laugh, “Yeah.”

“Who did that to you?”

Neil looked up as Noah nonchalantly rested his free elbow on the toilet paper dispenser, holding his cheek in the palm of his hand as if he were bored.

Neil paused his stitching as he answered, “A friend of my fathers.”

Noah winced but didn’t offer any other questions.

“Who did this to you?” Neil asked, not just referring to the cut that was currently being stitched up. Noah was covered in yellowing and purpling bruises, the most prominent ones surrounding his wrists and upper arms. Most of them were small enough to be fingerprints, travelling up his arm and disappearing into his rolled-up shirtsleeves.

Noah tensed up immediately at the question. “Why should I tell you?”

“A truth for a truth.”

Noah wrinkled his nose, not bothering to offer an immediate answer. They sat in mutual silence, listening to the _tap tap tap_ ping of rain hitting the library roof while Neil bandaged the cut with practiced ease. He made sure to keep a light enough hold on Noah’s arm throughout the entire process.  
  
“Those will need to be removed in a week and a half. Do you want to meet me here again or take your chances with a pair of tweezers?” Neil asked, setting the tools back in the kit to be sanitized when they got home.

Noah thought about it for a minute while he pulled his shirtsleeves down, the cuffs covering his knuckles. “I’ll meet you here. Sue takes us on the school bus and it picks me up right at my house on Wednesday’s.”

“Then I will see you two Wednesday’s from now, Noah.”

The kid nodded and hopped off the toilet. Neil bundled the bloodied toilet paper in his hands and flushed it down the toilet, then threw the medical kit in the sink with his and Andrew’s raincoats. He hurried to catch the bathroom door after Noah threw it open.

“Follow me.” Neil whispered, mindful of the group of elementary kids that Sue was entertaining somewhere in the library. Noah raised an eyebrow, a gesture that reminded him of Andrew so much that Neil had to stifle a laugh, but followed him out into the lobby regardless. Neil led him up to the second floor and past the bookcases filled to the brim with boring law dictionaries and encyclopedias, over to the secluded area of the library that Andrew had claimed for himself.

Andrew had his nose buried in a book three times the size of his head, but Neil’s approach had him snapping it closed, a look of boredom already in place. Neil could tell that Andrew already spotted his little tagalong, but chose not to comment on it.

“Sticky note?” Neil asked, holding his hand out expectantly. Andrew raised an eyebrow, but leaned over to search through his backpack without complaining. He came up with a pack of bright pink sticky notes, half of them already used and curling at the top, and a pen. Neil tore off his sketches of little foxes, drawn when he was bored out of his mind while Andrew was studying, and wrote down his number in a messy scrawl when he came to a blank one.

After peeling the note off from the stack, Neil bent down and stuck it to the front of Noah’s shirt. He made sure that the kid looked him in the eye before saying, “I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night or whatever, if they so much as raise their voice at you,” he poked the sticky note with his pointer finger, “call me.”

Noah worried his bottom lip between his teeth. He hesitated for a minute, but then eventually furrowed his eyebrows in a firm resolve and wrapped his hand around Neil’s in as strong a grip as a nine-year-old can manage. “I promise,” He said, “I promise to call you if my stepdad is bad again.”

Neil smiled, “Thank you, Noah.”

The kid nodded and slowly let go of Neil’s hand. He peeked over Neil’s shoulder, and whatever he saw on Andrew’s face made him look back at Neil with a smile. He had the smallest dimples, there and gone again as soon as he stepped away from the two Exy players and took a huge breath. “Two Wednesday’s.” He said.

“Two Wednesday’s.” Neil repeated. Noah nodded again and raised his hand in a small wave, looking behind Neil to check if Andrew would return it. Neil didn’t know if he did or not, but the dimples made a reappearance so he assumed that Andrew was in an indulging mood. The kid turned around and walked carefully down the stairs, wiping his eyes the whole way down while he went back to join his fellow classmates.

“First the cats and now a kid?” Andrew said, his voice devoid of emotion, “You’re getting domestic.”

Neil hummed, leaning over the back of Andrew’s chair so that his chin rested on his shoulder. “I like him. He reminds me of you.”

Andrew swatted a hand at his face, “That’s not a good thing.”

“Maybe in some aspects.”  
  
“Think he’ll call?”

Neil searched Andrew’s face, but all he got was a blank mask in return. “If not, want to come with me to the library two Wednesday’s from now?”

“That depends,” Andrew tapped a finger on the binding of the law dictionary he was studying, “Do I have to brush up on adoption law before then?”

Neil laughed, “Don’t act like you can’t do that in a night, Andrew.”

 

oOo

 

The sun slowly began to peek through the rain clouds as the afternoon wore on, the sound of the Maserati’s windshield wipers squeaking against a rainless windshield startling Neil out of his daydream. They had driven straight home after the events at the library, stopping at Dairy Queen for some much needed caffeine before weaving their way through rush hour traffic. Neil had stopped paying attention to the road when they crossed city limits, ignoring Andrew’s hushed curses at inept drivers while he weaved in and out of lanes.

They soon approached the parking garage of their apartment building. Andrew parked in his designated spot before turning off the wipers and cutting the engine. “What are we doing?” Neil asked, his head rolling to the side on the headrest so he could watch Andrew.

“We’re sitting in a parking garage, and I’m trying to ignore the fact that you wasted a perfectly good Hawaiian blizzard.” Andrew pointed accusingly at Neil’s untouched cup of ice cream.

Neil wrinkled his nose in disgust at the offending drink, “I thought it would have real fruit in it.”

“You should know better by now, idiot,” Andrew scoffed.

“I should just give up on eating sweets. Forever.” Neil said, and then sighed heavily, “I meant what are we doing with Noah, Andrew. Are we seriously going to try and adopt a kid?”

Andrew poked around in his turtle blizzard with the bright red spoon, “It wouldn’t be the most idiotic thing you’ve ever done.”

“Andrew, we don’t know the first thing about parenting.” And the more he thought about it, the worst his anxiety got. Neil had never had a solid home life, and he didn’t know how a good mother or a good father were supposed to act. He didn’t know if he had what it took to take a life and build it up to be something greater, something better. He knew pain, he knew knives and bruises and sharp, cutting voices that commanded his every move. He couldn’t remember ever being read a bedtime story or catching the bus for school or sitting proudly with his parents while he showed them a report card that had all A’s. Neil recalled every time Nicky, Katelyn, and Allison had recounted their childhood, their love and hatred for their parents while they were growing up. He didn’t know how to be that. He didn’t know how to be better than that.

“Then we learn,” Andrew’s voice cut through his thoughts, sharp and confident like the scrape of a knife, “we learn how to be better than his stepfather.”

Neil let out a breath of air, forcing the tension out of his body the longer he stared at Andrew’s emotionless face. “We’ve killed people, Andrew. That’s not something a nine-year-old can tell their friends when it’s show-and-tell time or whatever.”

“Well at least we aren’t boring.” Andrew said, grabbing both cups of Dairy Queen and opening the door with his elbow.

Neil laughed, clambering out of the car after him, “it beats being a stay-at-home mom, I guess.”

Andrew rounded the car and stood in front of Neil, crowding him up against the hood of the Maserati. Neil watched as vanilla ice cream melted down the side of the cup held in his right hand, catching on his pointer finger. Neil licked his lips, suddenly not minding the thought of eating a Hawaiian blizzard at the moment.

“You can say no right now,” Andrew said, his eyes cold and calculating and not at all on the same train of thought that Neil was, “but the moment we tell Noah what the plan is, we are not backing out.”

Neil nodded, his tone brooking no argument as he replied, “Okay.”

 

oOo

 

The bright red circle flashed in the corner of Neil’s laptop screen, indicating that he had an incoming Skype call. He checked the time and realized that it was half past six, around the time that Robin usually checked in for their weekly Skype date. After Neil and Andrew moved in together and the foxes scattered themselves around the world, Nicky and Matt had insisted on a scheduled Skype session with each of the foxes at least once a month. The schedule was posted on the door of their fridge, and although Andrew never really participated in most of them, he always made sure to be close by when Robin’s call came up.

The annoying circle went away when Neil answered it and his screen automatically pulled up an image of Robin’s living room, the person in question bundled in a blanket in the center of the camera shot. She dyed her hair a new color for the month, a pastel pink that reminded Neil of Renee’s dyed tips.

“Hey Robin.”

“Hey squirt, how’s it going?”

“Everything’s good, how’s the new job?”

Robin gestured to the living room behind her, the range of the laptop camera revealing a brand new flatscreen that definitely wasn’t there last week. “Absolutely amazing. Nicky talked me into getting a fifty inch after I got my first paycheck.”

“Who knew being a stay-at-home Exy journalist could pay so much.”

Robin shrugged, “I had to pull some strings, but I really only have to go into the office once a week for meetings.” Her eyes flickered over Neil’s shoulder, tracking Andrew as he wandered into the kitchen, “How’s the asshole?”

“Better than ever,” Andrew said, “now that you’re five states over.”

“Oh whatever, you miss me. What happened to our fun early morning rapport?”

“It died the moment you spent an hour in the bathroom doing god knows what when I had to pee.” Andrew rounded the corner, holding a pint of chocolate ice cream in one hand and two spoons in the other.

“Ah, college. Fun times,” Neil mused, taking the other spoon from Andrew. He didn’t care much for ice cream, but he hadn’t eaten since that morning and it was nearing suppertime.

“So what’s up? You look like Kevin dragged you out of the house at three in the morning for drills. It’s not a good look for you, by the way.”

Neil rolled his eyes and brought a spoonful of ice cream to his lips. “We need some of your mom’s contacts.”

Robin nodded, “Sure thing, which ones?”

“A lawyer,” Andrew said, pointing his spoon at the laptop screen, “and inside info on our elected county attorney.”

“What kind of lawyer?” Robin pulled her phone out of her jeans and began thumbing through it.

“An adoption lawyer. One who’s fast and knows what they’re doing.” Neil said.

Robin eyed them thoughtfully but nodded nonetheless. “Reading might be your best bet. She’s in Iowa, but her firm works nationwide. She’s won all but two cases in like, 30 years of experience.”

“How fast can you get her here?”

“I’ll have to call my mom, but I’m sure a quick word from the attorney general’s office will have Reading packing her bags within the hour.” Robin said, pushing her glasses up with her thumb while she scrolled through her phone.

Neil nodded. Sometimes it was helpful to have friends with parents in high places. After Randy Boyd helped Aaron with his bail, Andrew had started keeping track of all the foxes’ contacts and relations in case they might prove useful in the future.

“You said you needed info on your county attorney?”

“We hope he’s someone with a strong moral compass,” Andrew said, wrinkling his nose in disgust, “we need the paperwork and hearing to go through fast.”

Robin nodded and began furiously typing on her phone. Neil and Andrew made it halfway through the pint of ice cream before she looked up again. “Congratulations, your county attorney has a bleeding heart after all. He filed a CHIPs petition last year for a kid that had a few nasty bruises on his lower back. Parents had to go to court even though the evidence wasn’t solid, but throughout the investigation they discovered that the parents had ties to a gang leader in the area. Needless to say, the police swept it under the rug and the whole case avoided media attention. Pretty sure the county attorney was nominated for a Citizen of the Year Award for that one.”

“So he’s got a good rep with the court system and knows how to keep the public eye away,” Neil said, “sounds like we just need this guy on our side and we’ve got a solid case.”

“Yeah, what exactly is your case?” Robin asked, her curiosity finally reaching its limit.

Neil winced, but Andrew simply threw the empty ice cream container in the trash and patted Neil on the head. “This one wants to adopt a kid we barely know.”

Robin hummed, completely unfazed. “You should’ve expected something like this after the cat incident, Andy.”

Neil rolled his eyes, “I swear Andrew likes King and Sir more than me most days.”

Andrew flicked Neil in the head, “They know when to shut up.”

“Ew, I hate it when you guys are flirty.” Robin huffed, “So what’s this kid like? How old is he?”

“His name is Noah, he looks like he’s in third grade but he might just be really small for his age.”

Robin smiled, “He’ll fit right in with you two.”

“Yeah well, you’re not exactly human-sized yourself.”

“I’m a girl though, there’s a little bit more leeway there.” She shrugged, “Anyways, what’s his story?”

“His stepdad is a bit heavy-handed. Found the kid in the library restroom with a deep cut on his arm from a bottle of whiskey.” He glanced at Andrew, “There were some pretty bad bruises on his wrists and upper arms too.”

Robin winced in sympathy, “Is there a mom in the picture?”

“Noah didn’t mention one.”

“There isn’t.” Andrew said, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, “He wasn’t hesitant enough when he offered up information on his stepdad. If he had a mom who cared, he wouldn’t have said anything.”

“He would have wanted to protect her,” Neil continued, staring up at Andrew with awe, “if he does have a mom she’s probably heavy-handed as well.” Andrew nodded.

Robin sighed loudly, pocketing her phone after a few minutes of typing. “Reading will be able to rush the adoption papers, but what’s your plan in the meantime? It takes more than a few months for stuff like this to go through.”

“We’ll apply to be foster parents,” Neil said, a smile spreading across his face.

“And Pig Higgins will heavily influence the placement process.” Andrew added.

Robin laughed, “After all you’ve done for him, I’m not surprised that he owes you a couple of favors.”

“My connection with the FBI might help speed matters along too,” Neil said thoughtfully.

“I guess it’s time to make some phone calls. I already texted my mom, so Reading will be at your door by midday tomorrow.”

“Thanks Robbie.” Neil got out his cell phone and reluctantly pulled up Agent Browning’s number.

“Talk to you later pipsqueaks. Oh, and Neil?”

“Yeah?”

“Make sure you ask Noah what he wants before pulling out all the stops.” She winked at the camera before logging out.

The black screen reflected Neil’s stunned face before Andrew slowly closed the laptop lid. “She’s getting smarter in her old age.”

“You’re a terrible influence on her.”

Andrew scoffed and leaned over, picking up one of the cats that was rubbing up against his ankle. “We all know who the terrible influence is in this relationship.” He said, dropping King in Neil’s lap on his way to the bedroom.

Neil really couldn’t argue with that.

 

oOo

 

Reading came to town the next afternoon, a flurry of briefcases and hats and bright, curly blonde hair that forced itself into their apartment with little more than a “Hello dearies, you guys are shorter than I expected.” Neil had to hide Andrew’s knives on top of the fridge for the first hour of her visit.

She was insanely competent in her job, as Neil and Andrew found out after being told exactly what to sign and where and how long they could expect results. They filled out the adoption forms she had brought as well as the color-coded foster parent applications, but they refused to let her file them until they learned more from Noah. She got the county attorney on speakerphone and talked his ear off, having Andrew and Neil recount their interactions with Noah only after she had already convinced him that the kid was being abused. The county attorney was hesitant at first, but became wholeheartedly on board with the plan after she brought up his vast amount of injuries.

They worked from the apartment’s kitchen table, a makeshift war room complete with laptops, forms, and coffee. By the time Neil returned from his fourth Starbucks run, they had a court date for next Thursday and a CHIPs petition drafted up.

After hanging up with the county attorney, they called Agent Browning to alert him about the upcoming investigation, just so he was aware that Neil and Andrew were getting involved with something that required legal action and court dates. He seemed pleasantly surprised about the couple’s interest in adopting a kid and offered his help in the upcoming investigation, claiming that he could put pressure on their local task force in order to speed things up. “The kid did nothing wrong,” he said, “might as well help you midgets do something good for once.”

Reading finally left around midnight, claiming that she could do everything else from Iowa until the court date. She filed away their forms in a manila folder and told them that as soon as they wanted to confirm the adoption and foster parent process, to just give her a call and it would be done the next day.

Andrew and Neil went to bed that night with their heads swimming in legal procedure, the cats ignoring their exhaustion and kneading their stomachs for attention while they attempted to get some sleep.

“Still yes?” Neil asked, his hand resting on the pillow between them in an open invitation.

Andrew linked their pinkies together, his eyes bleary with sleep as he studied Neil’s face. “Still yes.”

 

oOo

 

A week went by and Noah didn't call.

Neil was starting to worry. He and Andrew went to the library every day after their morning jog, staying there until closing hours with Neil’s cell phone laid on the desk next to Andrew’s law books. When maintenance was done painting and the court finally opened, the two started a schedule of practicing in the morning and going to the library in the afternoon. Andrew kept the cell phone tucked into his waistband during practice, since he didn't move away from the goal very much and Neil was a ball of nervous energy to begin with.

The investigation hit a dead end halfway through the week. Although the local authorities couldn't release any details to them, Pig Higgins kept them updated through nightly phone calls.

Noah Allen Wiederman was a fourth grader at the local elementary school. He had good grades, but the teachers complained that he had few friends and was too shy to participate in class. His stepdad was Gary Reidland, a high school dropout that worked at the local tire factory and recently came into a substantial amount of money when his wife, Sherry Wiederman, passed away in a car crash in April of last year. Neil tried to ignore the irony of it all.

The police went to Gary's house on Monday to ask him and Noah some questions, but Gary was on his way out the door and Noah was supposedly at school. When they checked with the school secretary, she said that Noah had been called in absent that morning. They came back two days later with a search warrant, but they couldn't find the kid anywhere in the house. Gary claimed that he was probably staying at a friend's house and didn't bother to call home and ask first. Since they didn't have enough evidence to take Gary in, the police resigned themselves to staking out the house until Noah came home.

Neil paced impatiently around their living room, his hands running back and forth through his tangle of curls. Andrew watched him passively from the couch, his cell phone held out so they could both hear Pig Higgins on the line.

“So what's the next step? We just wait?” Neil asked, clearly agitated.

“That's all we can do, unless we find more evidence to back up the case. We called every parent who has a kid at that school, and not one of them has seen Noah in or around their houses.” Higgins said, his voice tired and strained. “Reidland has until the court date to produce his stepson.”

Neil cursed, sitting down heavily on the cushion next to Andrew. “What happens if he doesn't?”

“Then he'll be automatically charged for child endangerment, and Noah will be placed in foster care effective immediately. If he's found.”

“If he's found,” Neil repeated, tugging on his bangs in irritation.

“He's a smart kid, Josten,” Higgins said, trying and failing to calm Neil down, “he'll show up.”

 

oOo

 

Two Wednesday’s after they first met Noah, Andrew missed a pass at morning practice.

A resounding chorus of “What the fuck, Minyard?” and “Brian your aim was off!” rose from their teammates scattered across the court. Neil stood in the center of the court and watched as Andrew lifted his jersey hem and pulled the cell phone free from his waistband, his eyes never leaving Neil as he answered it.

Neil couldn’t hear the conversation, but he could see the way Andrew mouthed _Noah?_ the minute the phone was against his ear. They both ignored their coach’s shouting as Neil ran towards the goal, his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach as he approached and caught Andrew’s end of the conversation.

“Where are you at?” Andrew asked. To anyone else it would sound like a command, but Neil could hear the soft edges of his tone. “Do you want to talk to Neil?”

Andrew held the phone out after a few seconds and Neil took it hastily. “Noah, where are you?” He asked, weeks of panic finally catching up to him. His limbs felt heavy with relief as Andrew herded them both towards the court exit.

“I’m at the library,” Noah said, his voice high-pitched and sniffly as if he had a cold, “you told me to be at the library.”

Neil nodded even though Noah couldn’t see him. He put the phone on speaker the moment they were alone in the locker room. “That’s exactly where I told you to be. But where have you been the past couple of weeks? The police have been looking for you.”

“Um…” Noah hesitated, his voice wavering as he tried to keep in his tears, but it shook and cracked regardless when he said, “can you just come pick me up, Neil? Please?”

The word sounded foreign to Neil’s ears, shattering his calm facade and making his heart clench painfully. He must have made a noise, since Andrew stopped stripping off his gear and gave him a strange look before unstrapping Neil’s shin guards.

“We’re on our way, Noah,” Neil said, nodding at Andrew’s unspoken question, “we’ll be there as soon as we can. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?”

“No, I'm good.” Noah said. Neil could hear the unsaid _I think_. “As soon as you can?”

Neil smiled, “As soon as we can.”

Foregoing showers, Andrew and Neil stuffed their gear in their lockers as fast as they could and grabbed their duffle bags, leaving the locker room in a rush. Andrew nearly ran into Trevor on their way through the lobby, neatly sidestepping him until he held out an arm to stop their escape.

“Where are you guys going? It's the middle of practice.” Trevor huffed. He was almost as annoying as Kevin on the worst of days, but he actually held captain status.

Andrew glared, swinging his duffle bag over his shoulder and nearly hitting Trevor in the process. “Tell coach we’re leaving early. Family emergency.”

“What kind of family emergency?” Trevor huffed, crossing his arms as he shifted to block their exit, “And why does Neil have to go with you?”

Neil furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “We’re married.”

Trevor’s shock was almost tangible, his arms uncrossing in defeat as his mouth hung open. Andrew took advantage of the situation and elbowed his way past the captain, dragging Neil behind him by his shirt sleeve. Neil was still confused by the time they finally reached the car. “Did we not tell the team?”

“It hasn’t come up in conversation yet,” Andrew said, slamming the car door behind him before twisting the keys in the ignition, “coach knows, he had to file your paperwork when you transferred.”

Neil considered that as he strapped in. He took advantage of the slow traffic when they reached an intersection and leaned over to buckle Andrew’s seatbelt as well. “Any idea what time we’ll get there?”

Andrew checked the digital clock on the console and did some quick math in his head, “Text the Pig and tell him that there will be a Maserati speeding down highway 40. We’ll be there in half an hour.”

Neil pulled out his cell phone and did just that, fighting the inertia from the Maserati approaching higher speeds than the speed limit warranted. He ignored the _There better be a good reason for that_ text message he got from Higgins and pocketed his cell phone, making sure to turn the volume up just in case Noah called again.

He watched out the passenger side window as trees, cars, and street signs flew by at breakneck speeds, trying to ignore the anxiety building in his gut after hearing Noah’s trembling voice on the other line of the phone. The kid probably didn’t have his own cell phone, which was why he never called the entire time he was missing. He knew that Sue kept a landline at the library, so Noah most likely called from there. Neil mentally berated himself for giving the kid his phone number but not making sure he had a way to contact him in case things with his stepdad went sour.

“Stop thinking,” Andrew hissed, his eyes never leaving the road, “your guilt is tangible.” He gestured at the air around them with one hand.

Instead of answering him Neil leaned forward and flipped on the radio. Soft piano music played through the speakers almost instantly, accompanied by a violin. Neil raised an eyebrow, but Andrew merely huffed and answered, “Bee.” He nodded, turning the music up when Andrew didn’t object.

They sat through two duets and a symphony before Andrew pulled into the parking lot of the library, tires screeching as they hurriedly parked in the twenty minute parking zone. Neil rounded the car and pulled out the medical kit as soon as Andrew popped the trunk, mentally thanking Abby for sending them extra gauze last week. He didn’t want to think about what injuries Noah might have obtained since they last saw him, but Neil needed some of the supplies anyway for removing the stitches.

They all but ran into the library, both of them skidding to a stop when they saw the front desk. Noah was perched on the counter, his back to them with his feet dangling and kicking the desk below him in a rhythmic pattern. Sue sat next to him, the landline pressed to her ear. Noah turned as soon as they barged in and Neil tensed automatically, taking in the kid’s injuries and mentally filing them in order from least to most serious.

He sported a purple bruise that spread below and around his left eye as well as several yellowing bruises that wrapped themselves around his neck. As he turned around Neil noticed that he was favoring his left arm, but it didn’t look any worse than a minor sprain. Neil sighed in relief but the buzz of anxiety in his gut didn’t go away. There were worse injuries than physical ones, after all.

They stood in silence for a couple of seconds, Neil and Andrew out of breath from the adrenaline rush while they waited for Noah to make the first move. Even though Noah asked for them to come, they didn’t want to scare him by rushing in and immediately smothering him. Noah leaned back to take a look at Sue’s computer screen and scrunched his nose, “That wasn’t very fast.” He said.

Neil laughed while Andrew rolled his eyes, both of them breaking the invisible barrier of tension and walking towards the desk. “We were about an hour away. Luckily Andrew here has a very fast car and some friends on the police force.”

Sue finished her phone call, placing the landline back in its cradle, “The police are on their way, Noah.” She turned her attention to the two Exy players, “I suppose you two know why I had a crying, bruised child running in here right when we opened and demanding to use my phone to call a ‘Neil’.”     

Neil raised his hand sheepishly, “I’m Neil.”

To their surprise, Noah reached over and patted Sue on the arm, “It’s okay, Sue. Neil’s here to take care of my cut.”

Neil held up his medical kit when Sue glanced over at him, “I took care of him a couple weeks ago when he came to the library with a cut on his arm. We’ve been talking to the police about investigating his home life, but he disappeared for awhile.”

Noah looked down at his lap, playing with the sleeves of his sweatshirt and suddenly finding them very interesting. Andrew leaned on the counter, head in his hand as he observed Noah, “I believe you wanted us to ‘pick you up’, Noah. You don’t want to go home again, do you?”

The kid shook his head, tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. They were red and puffy, as if he hadn’t stopped crying since Neil met him in the bathroom. “I don’t wanna talk to police either.” he said.

Neil held out his hand, palm up like he sometimes did with Andrew when asking for permission to touch him. “They’re just going to ask some questions about where you’ve been and how your stepfather treats you at home. We’ll be with you the whole time, okay?”

Noah looked up, his eyes bright and tear-filled, and hesitated before grabbing Neil’s hand. Neil curled his fingers around his small palm and squeezed lightly. “When he saw my cut all sewed up he wasn’t very happy. He said I was tattlin’ to strangers and I was ungrateful, then put me in the shed in the backyard and told me to stay there until he came and got me.”

Sue gasped and covered her mouth with her hand and Andrew tensed, his hands curling into fists where they rested on the desk. Neil’s mouth grew to a thin line, “That wasn’t very nice of him, was it Noah? I assume he didn’t come get you for quite awhile.”

Noah shook his head and squeezed Neil’s hand even harder. “I snuck outta the shed every night to grab food and check what day it was. I didn’t want to miss the day you promised to be here.”

The image of Noah sneaking out while his stepfather was asleep to check the calendar every night just so he wouldn’t miss Neil was almost too much for him to take in. The kid was relying on him to help, even if it was just to take out his stitches in a library bathroom. “So last night you saw what day it was and ran here as soon as your stepfather left for work, and asked Sue if you could borrow her phone. Is that right?”

Noah nodded, “Sue wanted to take me to the hospital but I told her to wait for you.”

Neil was overcome with the sudden urge to take Noah right then and there and protect him, to gather him in his arms and not let go until Noah asked. He was scared of the instinct, scared of how similar he could be to his mother when they were on the run. She was willing to do anything to protect him from his father, even hit him into submission so they could run faster and hide longer. He caught Andrew’s eye and breathed evenly, seeking comfort in the fact that Andrew would never let him go that far. That Andrew was in this with him. That it was _still yes_. He held out his other hand, the one not holding Noah’s, and asked, “Is it alright to hug you?”

Noah let out what sounded like a choked-off sob and nodded, letting go of Neil’s hand so he could reach up and wrap his tiny arms around Neil’s neck. He tucked himself into Neil’s chest as tightly as he could, the kid’s curly black hair tickling the underside of his jaw. “You’re so brave, Noah.” He whispered softly, rubbing his back in circular motions like he saw Renee do a couple times with her kid. He and Andrew stared at each other in mutual understanding. They weren’t letting Noah go anytime soon.  

The sound of cars pulling up to the library broke them out of their reverie. The police weren’t using sirens, but Neil could spot the panda cars from a mile away. Officer Tyson was the first one through the door, followed by Pig Higgins. Neil breathed a sigh of relief. Tyson was good with kids since he had four of his own and Higgins was still in town, staying to testify on behalf of Andrew and Neil should they need it in court on Thursday.

Neil lowered his head to whisper to Noah, “Okay?” before backing out of the hug, but Noah only held on tighter. “I’m going to pick you up then, okay?” Neil asked. He waited for Noah’s little nod before lifting the kid off the counter and resting his weight on his hip. He was lighter than Neil expected, but weeks of sneaking food from a kitchen at night would do that to a growing kid. He turned around with Noah in tow to face the officers, the look of surprise on Pig Higgins’ face giving him a deep sense of satisfaction.

“Noah?” Tyson asked, bending down a ways so he was at Noah and Neil’s height. Neil cursed all the giants in the world (minus Matt,) and nudged Noah with his shoulder to get his attention. “My name is Officer Tyson, I need to ask you a couple of quick questions okay? And then we can get you all patched up at the hospital.”

Noah looked up uncertainly at the officer, but nodded. He refused to let go of his death grip around Neil’s neck, so Neil took him over to a set of study tables and chairs before sitting down. Noah sat in his lap, legs splayed on either side of his hips while Tyson sat on the other side of the table and took out his notebook. Andrew joined them after discussing something with Pig Higgins for a few minutes and visiting the vending machine. He took the seat next to Neil and silently handed over a bag of trail mix to Noah.

Tyson asked standard questions at first, like where Noah went to school and what he liked to do for fun. Neil wasn’t surprised when he expressed his interest in books, his expression opening up with excitement while he recounted his favorite series about a detective. Noah was really articulate for a kid in fifth grade, pronouncing his words with careful precision and making sure he knew what he was going to say before he said it. Andrew’s lips quirked up in the semblance of a smile while Noah rambled, probably overjoyed that the kid shared his love for mystery novels. Eventually Noah was completely turned around in Neil’s lap, no longer hiding in the safety of his arms while he talked to Tyson.

The questions soon turned to the subject of his disappearance, and when Noah started to get distressed Neil and Andrew would fill in the blanks from what Noah had told them beforehand. Tyson’s expression went from cheerful to downright furious as they explained Gary Reidland’s unorthodox parenting style, having to stop them now and then so he could verify his notes with the investigation files he had on hand.

After getting Noah’s brief statement, Tyson stood up and stretched the kinks out of his back. “Thank you for answering my questions, Noah.” He said, his normal cheerful disposition slowly coming back. “You ready to get your injuries checked out?”

Noah tensed in Neil’s lap, bunching the fabric of his sweatshirt in one hand. “Andrew and Neil can come?” He asked, suddenly soft and shy again.

Tyson raised his eyebrows in question, directed towards the couple. Neil rested his head on top of Noah’s mop of curls, an affectionate gesture he had developed from two too many cats and Andrew’s affinity for non-direct touches. “We’re the adult attendants at his trial tomorrow, so he’s staying with us tonight,” He said, looking down as Noah stared up, “that means we’ll go with you to the hospital and you’ll get to meet our cats.”

Noah smiled, his dimples making a reappearance. It was the most emotion he had expressed all day, and Neil guessed it was probably the first time he had smiled in weeks. Andrew scoffed beside them, running a hand through Neil’s curls and tugging lightly, “The cats are spoiled enough as it is.”

Neil smiled cheekily back at him, setting Noah on the ground so they could stand up and walk out of the library together. “Don’t be a stranger, dear!” Sue yelled as they went through the lobby doors. Noah waved at her, the smile still plastered happily on his face.

Pig Higgins followed them out, listing off further instructions to the deputies now gathering at the entrance. They were all going as a protection detail for Noah to the hospital while another unit went to arrest Reidland at his workplace. Andrew placed a hand on Neil’s lower back while he nodded in Higgins’ direction as a form of thanks, and then unlocked the doors to the Maserati.

Noah was absolutely in love with the vehicle, oohing and ahhing at the sound of the engine and the smoothness of the leather seats and the clarity of the radio. Neil made sure the kid was buckled in correctly before joining Andrew in the front seat. He noticed that Andrew drove fast but he was also very careful, making sure that there was enough space between cars before switching lanes and only speeding up on long stretches of road.

Noah remained quiet in the backseat, probably tired out from the events of the day already. Neil thought about having him in their home, safe and warm and unharmed with cats to cuddle with and a room to himself that he could retreat to. He would have to talk to Andrew about moving their workout equipment to the office so Noah could have the bigger room to stretch out in. The guest room was little more than a square closet, since Andrew didn’t care for guests and Robin was the one who stayed over the most. She still doesn’t like large spaces, and rarely left the comfort of the guest room after she stayed there for the first time. Neil would have to ask Noah what his preference was.  

They pulled up to the hospital, their entourage of five police vehicles attracting more than a little attention. Noah was agitated when Andrew went to get him out of the backseat, wanting to be carried inside like Neil was doing with him earlier. Andrew offered him his hand instead and the kid clutched onto it with both hands as if he was offering him the whole world. Neil watched as Andrew’s face went through a series of minute emotions, visible only to Neil through years of experience.

They sat on either side of Noah on the hospital bed while a nurse took his vitals, shaking her head at the kid’s weight and the amount of bruising on his visible skin. After a couple minutes the doctor came in with an apologetic expression, claiming that the couple couldn’t be in the room while they did a full examination. Andrew crouched down in front of Noah and reassured him that they would be right outside the door if he needed them. Noah seemed hesitant, but he was definitely a smart kid who had endured worse, so he nodded and accepted the pinky promise from Andrew with a determined set to his jaw.

The examination seemed to take forever. Andrew twitched with the need for a cigarette, but they both remained outside the door with Tyson and the six or so policemen stationed as guards. Andrew doesn’t go back on his pinky promises, and Neil was a nervous wreck without him regardless.

The doctor left the room with a grim expression on his face, closing the door with a soft _snick_. He motioned Tyson, Andrew. and Neil over to a secluded section of the hallway and began listing off Noah’s injuries.

“As you saw, he has significant bruising on his face and around his neck, most likely from the assailant’s hands. His chest is pretty much the same story, a few cuts here and there that look similar to the one on his arm, but they scarred over jaggedly since they weren’t cared for properly. We went ahead and removed the stitches that Mr. Minyard-Josten put in a couple weeks ago.” He paused, looking up at them with a tight-lipped expression before continuing, “He also has burn marks on his outer thighs and on the heels of his feet. Small and circular.”

“Cigarette burns.” Andrew concluded, his hands curling into fists in rage. Neil was right there with him.

The doctor nodded, “Correct.” He said, “Some are no more than a week old, some maybe a year or two old. It’s hard to tell.”  

Andrew cursed, folding his arms and running his hands across the fabric of his armbands. Neil knew he no longer carried his knives around, but it was a habit more than anything. Neil dug into his pocket and pulled out their pack of cigarettes, the lighter tucked inside the box. “Go smoke. I’ll stay here with Noah.”

Andrew nodded, his face carefully blank. Neil watched him leave the hallway before turning back to the doctor. “His arm?” He prodded.

“Sprained. We’re giving him some aspirin and having him ice it for now. He’ll be staying with you for the time being, right?” Neil nodded, “Ice it every 20 minutes and keep it elevated while he sleeps. If it swells anymore then we’ll get a brace on it. He’s a bit underweight and hasn’t been getting enough food, so we gave him a pack of protein bars. As for the burns, I’ll write you a prescription for ointment and then send you home with some gauze. I’m sure you know how to take care of them, considering.” He gestured at Neil’s cheek, where his burns were prominently on display. Neil nodded seriously, ignoring the doctor’s lack of subtlety.

Tyson closed his notebook with a snap, his anger controlling his actions for the time being. Neil patted him on the shoulder before turning back to the exam room, “Can I see him now?”

“Go ahead. I’ll get the paperwork and prescription written out while you wait with him.” The doctor left in a flurry of movement.

Neil knocked on the door, waiting for Noah’s quiet “Come in!” before entering.

“The doctor is writing out your prescription and then we can head home,” Neil said as he sat on the side of the hospital bed. Noah pulled his knees to his chest, an uneasy expression settling on his face. “‘Home’ as in mine and Andrew’s apartment. Complete with cats and twenty pints of ice cream.” Neil amended.

Noah giggled, relaxing against Neil’s side. “Where’s Andrew?” He asked.

“He went to smoke, but he was outside the room the entire time the doctor was in here. Just like he promised.”

Noah nodded, his head resting on Neil’s upper arm. “What are the cat’s names?”

Neil sighed and reluctantly recounted the tale of how the cats received their unfortunate names, courtesy of tequila and a very drunk Nicky. He talked about their personalities, how King was uptight and persnickety but enjoyed a good cuddle every now and then, and how Sir was cuddly but only on his terms and only when you fed him a little bit of ice cream. Noah got a kick out of Neil’s stories, his dimples never once disappearing throughout their conversation while he munched on protein bars.

Andrew returned, his face stormy but his posture relaxed in a way so as not to alarm Noah. Neil held his hand out in silent command and examined Andrew’s knuckles with clinical detachment. He had clearly punched the hospital wall in his rage, and had gone through at least three cigarettes before giving up on them. “They arrested Reidland,” Andrew said, watching Noah with a careful eye, “he’ll be at the hearing tomorrow in handcuffs.”

Neil nodded, but they both watched Noah for his reaction. “Will I have to go back home with him afterwards?” Noah asked, all mirth gone at the mention of his stepfather.

Andrew shook his head, “Tomorrow will be the last time you’ll see him.”

“Okay.” Noah agreed. And that was that.

The doctor came back with the prescription, then Neil and Andrew checked in with the police before leaving with Noah. The hearing wasn’t until 1:00 in the afternoon the next day, so they had time to get Noah settled in and had the morning to prepare him to testify. They grabbed the prescription on the way home and then stopped at Dairy Queen once they entered the city, Neil ordering a small strawberry shake while Andrew and Noah opted for a fudge-ladened nightmare filled with god knows what. The sugar rush fueled Noah’s questions about their apartment and cats until they got home, when Andrew opened the back door to reveal a fast asleep nine-year-old.

“Well, so much for introducing him to the cats.” Neil muttered, grabbing the empty ice cream cups in one hand and the prescription bag in the other. Andrew unbuckled Noah and carefully lifted him from the seat.

“I can take him if you want.” Neil offered, watching as Andrew rearranged Noah’s limbs so he rested comfortably against his hip.

Andrew shrugged, “I’m stronger than you are, beanpole.”

Neil laughed quietly, running ahead of Andrew so he could open doors and hit elevator buttons. It took a little bit of fumbling around for them to find their keys when they reached the apartment, Andrew repositioning Noah on his hip to get to his tight pockets. Fortunately Noah didn’t have any reaction to being jostled around.

The cats greeted them when they entered the apartment. Neil hurried to feed them while Andrew deposited Noah on the couch and went in search of blankets and pillows. He came back with a giant pile of them, stacked high in his arms as if they were going to build a giant nest. Neil shrugged in response to his silent question, heating a few leftover bowls of chili in the microwave while Andrew went to work arranging the pillows and blankets in the living room.

They went to sleep that night with full stomachs, the cats lying between them on the floor while Noah slept peacefully on the couch. The TV was showing a rerun of late night sitcoms, the sound turned on but barely audible. Andrew slept with his arm draped over Neil’s hip and his body turned towards the couch, Neil’s soft snores filling the room with familiarity and warmth as Andrew drifted off to a feeling of comfort and safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me on [tumblr](http://minyavd.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> Some quick notes:  
> Andrew and Neil are NOT your typical parents and I wouldn't expect them to be - this chapter is very rushed simply because the original headcanon was. The second chapter will slow down and have some more narrative. Also, more sassy Noah (yay!)


	2. Chapter 2

Andrew scuffed his boot on the loose gravel, kicking over rocks to create a mini pathway for whatever creepy crawlers may want to get into the house. The house itself wasn’t old, it wasn’t rickety with shingles falling off from decay and siding mismatched with different shades of white. It didn’t have broken swingsets and old toys littering the yard and it didn’t have a chain linked fence that stuck out of the ground in dangerous places. It wasn’t anything like the foster homes Andrew frequently got stuck with when he was child, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness and familiarity when he stepped up to the flawless, white-picket fenced mansion in the middle of a cul-de-sac.

He turned to Tyson as the man exited the police cruiser, turning off the vehicle with a flick of the wrist and the dangling of keys. “Well, this is it.” Tyson said, coming over to stand next to Andrew and Neil. Noah stood between them, his hands fisting in the fabric of Andrew’s sleeve.

“Just grab the things you want to keep, kid.” Tyson said, walking forward with the house key in hand as the rest of their company trailed after him.

Noah nodded, kicking off his shoes as soon as they entered the house. Neil and Andrew looked at each other in confusion but then did the same. The hardwood floors were spotless and stretched for miles in the open living room and kitchen combo, stopping at the base of two staircases, one leading down while the other led up. Andrew looked around the house absently, noting very few personal items such as pictures and books. The living room sported a leather couch and a well-used La-Z-Boy recliner, the leather cracked and deflated where a heavy man once sat. Noah gave the chair a wide berth as he walked to the kitchen on socked feet, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a couple cans of grape soda. When Andrew leaned over to look in the fridge, all he could see were cases upon cases of beer and the occasional leftover box. Noah did the same with a few cabinets, pulling out hidden ziplock bags full of cereal and granola bars.

“Secret stash?” Andrew asked, holding a grocery bag open so Noah could stuff his treasures inside.

“He never cooked, so I hid stuff with mom’s baking supplies.” Noah said, waving a hand at the cabinet he had just emptied.

Neil smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair, being careful to over exaggerate his approach so as not to startle him. “Smart kid,” he said affectionately. Noah grinned up at him.

After emptying the cabinets, Noah led them through the house, avoiding certain rooms and peeking into others with little more than a glance. They went upstairs after awhile, coming to a stop outside a locked white door. Tyson found the key on his keyring to unlock it and they all piled inside the room. It was a little bigger than their guest room but with a twin bed instead of a queen, outfitted with race car sheets, colorful toy boxes, and G-rated movie posters. Andrew walked in and immediately felt like everything was slightly staged, impersonal and wrong like it was an outline for how a little boy’s room was supposed to look like.

“You didn’t sleep in here, did you Noah?” He asked, watching as the kid opened the closet door and began pulling out clothes.

Noah shrugged, “I used to. It was my room before mom died.” He stuffed a few sweatshirts and pants into the bag that Neil held out and then led them back into the hallway. Andrew guessed that the room was more for decoration than anything, held in stasis like a museum for curious neighbors and houseguests. He didn’t know if he was ready to see the place where Noah was used to sleeping.

They went back downstairs, the sound of their footfalls on the steps echoing in the silent and empty house. Tyson flicked the back of the recliner as they passed it. “Bank’s going to repossess all this stuff. Shame the kid can’t sell it for some pocket change.” Noah looked up at the police officer, confusion written clearly on his face.

“Since you did so well at the hearing, your stepfather is going away for a long time,” Neil explained, “so he won’t have any use for this house anymore.”

“What about my mom’s stuff?” Noah asked, gesturing to a dark wooden cabinet tucked in the corner of the living room. “A lot of this furniture is hers.” Neil didn’t miss the way he glanced warily at the recliner.

“Sherry gave Reidland everything in her will, right?” Tyson asked. Neil nodded, having sat through the trial they knew all about how Sherry didn’t give a cent to her son after her death. Even Tilda had left something for her hated sons, but apparently Gary’s hold on the woman had elicited more fear than they predicted. Tyson sighed, “Then the bank will have to take it all. I’m sorry, Noah.”

Noah blinked and then turned away, heading for the stairs that led to the basement of the house. Andrew tried his best to ignore the look of blankness that fit itself so easily over the kid’s features and instead watched Neil as he hesitated at the top of the steps. Neil had been very clear about the “no basement” rule when they were house shopping, too blinded from his demons to even consider going underground for even a minute.

He was about to say something along the lines of _Wait here_ when Neil’s phone started ringing. He checked the caller ID, flashing the screen at Andrew so he could see that it was the social work office. Andrew nodded and left him to it, following Noah and Tyson as they went down the stairs.

They had been housing Noah for little more than a week but hadn’t broached the subject of adoption yet, wanting to wait until Reading came back with the confirmation that their foster paperwork had been filed successfully. After the trial with Reidland, the judge officially declared Noah a ward of the state and placed him in their home, thanks to Agent Browning pulling some strings with the Missouri government officials and the fact that they were the adult attendants for the hearing. Now it was the Caseworker’s turn to determine whether or not Noah could live with them, and they weren’t easily bribed by FBI agents and police officers.

The process of attempting to keep and protect Noah was what kept Andrew’s mind off of the whole foster process. He didn’t want to think about how this could all go wrong, how Andrew knew from experience how much work fostering a child could be and how much of a toll it took on the parents. He didn’t want to think about how he and Neil could become what he feared most, the demons in his closet that took the shape of fake smiles and heavy hands. The past week with Noah in their home had been strange, to say the least. He woke up every morning to two smiles and two _Good morning_ ’s, to the smell of pancakes with strawberries and chocolate chips because Noah had a sweet tooth as well, to the sight of a kid cuddling with the cats on their living room floor while Andrew and Neil got ready to take him to school on their way to practice. Noah fit into their ridiculous and fast-paced life in a way that Andrew had never expected, seamlessly wedging himself into the picture like he had been there all along. It was an uncomfortable realization, one that caused Andrew to pause every time the kid held Andrew’s hand, or when he chose to hide behind Andrew in crowded places. He didn’t know what to do other than to just let it happen, to let himself have this. He accepted Neil into his life after a year of hard-won truths, and maybe it was time to let Noah into his life simply because the kid needed him.

Andrew sighed as he followed Noah into a large one-room basement with cement floors and exposed ceilings. The acrid stench of dead beetles and something else equally as rancid filled the air as pipes creaked and groaned around them. It smelled familiar, but the kind of familiar that caused him to shiver in anticipation of what was to come. If this was a foster home, he would be preparing himself for the worst.   

Plastic tubs, various knick knacks, and old furniture that one would find in any basement littered the floor, stacked on top of tables and spanning the length of the area. Noah paused at the bottom of the stairs before taking a deep breath and stepping into the overcrowded room. Andrew wanted to reach out and grab his shoulder, to stop him from entering what had to be one of the darkest places of his childhood. It was odd, knowing that he wanted to touch, to comfort the kid despite his aversion to human contact. Throughout his years of living with his cousin and brother, the foxes, and then eventually Neil, he had gotten used to casual contact that didn’t make his skin crawl with apprehension and disgust. Neil’s soft hands, his chapped lips and warm body had replaced the unwelcomed heat of his abusers. His body recognized safety, it recognized familiarity through years and years of asking _yes_ _or_ _no_ in his own bed, his own apartment, and with his own family. Noah seemed to be no exception.

“Noah,” Andrew said, the sound of his voice surprising even him. Noah turned around, his body visibly rigid with tension. Andrew held out his hand, and whatever the kid saw on the blonde’s face had him reaching out to hold it. His hand was smaller than Andrew’s, cold and trembling but holding on tight as if Andrew was an anchor tethering him to reality. He had assumed that the kid was upset about losing his mother’s possessions, but the careful blankness he saw upstairs had only increased with each step they went down. He was no stranger to panic attacks, and the kid was on the precipice of a rather large one at the moment.

Tyson stopped walking when Noah turned around, scrunching his nose as he took in the dark basement and it’s accompanying smell. “If you got any possessions down here kid, I’m sure they reek of water damage and dead bugs.”

Andrew squeezed Noah’s hand, like one would after a prayer in church. He skipped the amen and made sure the kid was looking at him before saying, “We can go back upstairs.”

Noah looked away for a moment and scanned the basement with a blank expression. He stopped and stared at the back corner of the room, where Andrew could barely make out a dirty mattress behind a pile of trash bags. The kid sucked in a sharp breath, then grabbed onto Andrew’s arm with both hands. He shook his head slowly back and forth, his eyes never leaving the back corner of the room.

Andrew nodded, “Let’s go back to Neil then.” And that was that.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they climbed upwards, as carpet receded to hardwood floors and the stench of bugs and piss gave way to the stale air of an unused house. The tension in Noah’s small shoulders slowly melted away, but he didn’t let go of Andrew’s arm until they reached the landing, and even then he simply slipped his hand back into Andrew’s like it was a normal occurrence.  

Neil was still on the phone when they entered the kitchen. He glanced their way before turning his attention back to the phone cradled between his cheek and shoulder, a notebook and pencil held in front of him. “One o’clock will work better since it’s in between practices,” He said into the receiver, then waited a beat for the person on the other line to respond. “We pick him up from the after school program around five.”

Andrew watched Noah while they waited for Neil to end the phone call. He seemed all right, no longer visibly shaken, but his eyes were tracking Tyson as he lingered near the top of the stairs like a starved puppy.

“All right, we’ll see you then. Give my regards to Cupcake.” Neil said, then hung up after setting the notebook and pen down on the counter.

“Cupcake?” Andrew asked, lifting his eyebrows in judgement.

“The Caseworker’s dog. It kept barking in the background.” Neil wrinkled his nose, his obvious dislike of dogs shining through that simple gesture.

“I don’t think you’re in the right position to judge how other people name their animals,” Noah said softly. Andrew was happy that he was joining in on the conversation, but he had to flick the kid in the head for that statement. Noah whined and rubbed the spot through his thick bangs, but he still kept his tight hold on Andrew’s hand.

Neil laughed, “Sir and King have perfectly appropriate names. Nicky would cry if he heard you bashing them.” Andrew rolled his eyes. It was the idiot’s fault for naming the cats stupid names, he can deal with the consequences. “Anyways, we have an appointment with Carrie tomorrow at one.”

Tyson joined them, jangling the keys in his hand obnoxiously, “I’ll let the judge know that your caseworker contacted you and set up an appointment.”

Andrew nodded and turned to Noah, “We done here?”

The kid glanced back at the stairs then nodded. Neil and Tyson led the way out of the house, carrying bags filled with Noah’s stash of food and various articles of clothing from the upstairs closet. They left out the front door, but before Andrew closed it behind him he pulled Noah back inside by their joined hands. He squatted down so he could look the kid in the eyes, which said something about his lack of height considering Andrew was only five foot even.  

“What do you want from the basement?” Andrew asked calmly, watching as the kid’s eyes shifted to look beyond his shoulder. Classic avoidance.

“It’s not important.”

“If it’s not important, then why did you go downstairs in the first place?” Noah obviously didn’t want to go down there, but whatever the kid wanted was important enough to force himself down those stairs regardless.

Noah glared at him and lifted his chin in defiance, “Just some old books. They’re probably covered in rat piss anyway.” He turned to leave, but Andrew still had a hold of his hand. Andrew let go, but not until the kid faced him again.

“You’re not very good at lying, you know.” He said, tilting his head to look Noah in the eyes, “You could learn a thing or two from Neil.”

Noah scoffed, but when he met Andrew’s eyes his face was more open than before. “I’m not going back down there again. They can rot for all I care.”

Andrew hummed, “You’re forgetting that there are three semi-capable adults here willing to go downstairs and grab them for you.” He wasn’t about to give Tyson too much credit, the guy was just there to open doors for them.

Sucking on his bottom lip in concentration, Noah gave it some thought before looking over Andrew’s shoulder into the empty house. “There are five books stuffed under the mattress down there,” He said after a little bit, “in the back left corner.”

Andrew nodded once and then stood up, turning on his heel to go back into the house. “Stay with Neil. I’ll be back.”

He watched as Noah hesitated, probably wanting Andrew to turn around and forget about the books, but he eventually left out the front door to join Neil and Tyson in the driveway.

The smell assaulted him as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He took a minute to contemplate burning the house down before a realtor was subjected to cleaning the place out, but then remembered that arson was on the list of “things Andrew can’t be arrested for this year” that Neil had made up after the whole Christmas fiasco.

He looked around for a light switch of some sort and found one on the far wall next to the pile of garbage bags and the dingy old mattress that he saw earlier. Managing not to trip on several lampshades and broken crockpots littering the floor, Andrew made his way over to Noah’s supposed “bedroom” for the last two years and flipped on the light.  

Several things came into focus that Andrew was not prepared for, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he took everything in with a critical eye. A garbage bag had fallen onto the mattress, toppled over from the pile acting as a barrier between the “bedroom” and the rest of the basement, it’s contents spilling onto the pale blue sheets and the cement floor below. Amongst the rotten food, discarded papers, and typical garbage was the occasional beetle or rat, poking at their spoils with twitching noses and the fluttering of wings. Andrew had spent some quality time with unsanitary living environments over the years, but at this point he was strongly considering taking Noah to the hospital for some more vaccines on their way home.

The mattress itself was yellowing and filled with holes, the blue sheet and pillow the only indication that someone had once slept there. Andrew wrinkled his nose in disgust as he nudged the mattress over with his boot, lifting the corner of it off the ground to reveal several paperback books with library stickers on the bindings. He recognized them as mystery books from the adult section that he never got around to reading because Sue never put them back out on the shelves. Sly kid.

After stacking the books in his arms, Andrew nudged around the mattress with the toe of his boot until he completely upended it, sending the garbage and creatures careening into the nearest wall. Another book was tucked under the right side of the mattress, a small journal with dollar store stickers decorating the cover. He bent down to pick it up, examining the little white-outlined kittens and Avenger’s logos that adorned both sides. Something was tucked into the middle of the journal, poking out the top with curled edges from being stuffed under a mattress. Andrew pulled it out gently, his curiosity getting the better of him.

A woman with Noah’s dark skin and curly black hair smiled up at him from the worn polaroid photograph, a swaddled baby cradled gently in her arms that could be no other than little Noah. Andrew took a minute to drink in every detail of the mother’s affectionate gaze, directed towards the little bundle that she held reverently as if he were made of glass. If only Sherry could see what had happened to her son, could know what her husband had done to him. He felt the sudden impulse to tear the picture apart, to shred it until all was left was the little bundle of blankets in the corner of the photo. Instead, he tucked it back into the middle of the journal with careful fingers, and stacked the journal on top of his tower of books.

He went back upstairs after navigating through the messy basement, walking outside to find Noah and Neil already in the car and Tyson’s cruiser missing. It had rained a little while they were inside, the sidewalks and street pavement painted a darker color and littered with worms and wilted leaves. The neighborhood was upper middle class, with the best shingles complementing the best stonework and clean gardens accompanying spotless, steam-pressed curtains. The richness and glamor of it all could never cover up the dinginess, the disgusting underbelly of that basement crawling with bugs and debris and the evidence of several years of child abuse that the neighbors were all too happy to ignore. Andrew wrinkled his nose in disgust as he opened the back door of the Maserati and dropped the pile of books into Noah’s lap.

Noah didn’t say anything as he plucked the journal from the top of the pile and tucked it into his sweatshirt pocket, but he looked up at Andrew with a grateful smile. Andrew nodded once, and then slammed the door shut and rounded the car to join Neil at the front. He was beyond tired, and the demons of his past were threatening to overcrowd the edges of his vision. Neil seemed to notice his quiet mood and flipped on the radio, the smooth tones of piano turned down to a manageable volume filtering throughout the car.

They drove home in silence while rain pattered against the car windows, the afternoon wearing on as street lights flooded the pavement and the afternoon rush hour flowed around them. Noah fell asleep after several minutes, his head cushioned on his arm as he rested up against the window, a couple of books opened and spread over his lap as if he couldn’t wait to get home to read them.    

Andrew didn’t know when he had started referring to his and Neil’s apartment as the kid’s home. It might have been that first night, when they stopped at Dairy Queen on the way back from the hospital and then spread out on the living room floor with cats and leftover chili. It might have been when they took Noah furniture shopping and watched as the kid overwhelmed himself with the amount of comforters he could choose from, fretting over whether to get a twin or a queen-sized bed that he could grow into and whether or not they needed an extra pillow for the cats to sleep on. Or it might have been when Noah had called for Andrew in the dead of night from the living room bathroom, his brows furrowed in concentration as he stood in the shower and attempted to rub ointment onto the heels of his feet. Andrew had helped him without saying a word, bandaging his heels and the sides of his thighs with careful hands while the kid hissed in barely-restrained pain. They sat on the kitchen counter that night, teasing the cats with their socked feet while exchanging promises over spoonfuls of rocky road.     

Andrew leaned down in his seat and propped his short legs up onto the dashboard, watching the kid in the corner of his eye as they passed exit after exit on the long stretch of highway that led towards home. Towards safety, towards cats, leftovers, and reruns of exy games. It was a long drive home, but Andrew decided he didn’t mind it.

 

oOo

 

Neil came back from his run to find Andrew and Noah glaring at each other across the kitchen table.

“No.” Andrew said, his tone serious and no-nonsense.

“Five.” Noah spread his hand out in front of Andrew’s face.

Andrew stared at him blankly. “Three.”

“Four and a half.”

“Three and a half and I get the other half.”

Noah nodded, “Good doing business with you,” he said, pulling a pack of oreos out of his backpack and counting out four.

Neil rolled his eyes as Andrew ate half of one and handed the rest over to Noah, “If a teacher calls about the nutritional value of his sack lunches, I’m throwing the phone at you.” Neil said, opening the fridge to grab an energy drink.

“What can I say, the kid drives a hard bargain.” Andrew grabbed the pack from Noah in exchange for a ziplock baggie to hold his mandated three and a half oreos for lunch.

Neil closed the fridge door and was about to join them at the table when the schedule caught his eye. “We have a Skype date with Matt tonight,” He tapped the paper with his pointer finger, “you ready to meet one of the Foxes, Noah?”

They hadn't told any of the foxes about their new family situation yet, simply because they didn't think it was safe to mention. Carrie was adamant about not overwhelming Noah with so many new faces at once, since it would be hard for everyone if the adoption for some reason didn't work out. Andrew had glared at her after that for the rest of her visit, but even he had to admit that it made sense. Nicky would be heartbroken if he made friends with Noah and then the kid suddenly disappeared from his life. Neil and Andrew didn't want to think about what they would do if the adoption did fall through. Robin already knew about Noah though, and Matt was incredibly hard to lie to since his Skype dates were more frequent than anyone else’s.

Noah’s face lit up in a grin, “Matt is the one married to Dan, right? The one who posts on Twitter about you all the time?”

“Yeah, the tall one with the spiky hair.” Neil confirmed. They had shown Noah pictures of the foxes that they took down and copied from the court lobby after graduation, little selfies and group photos that Neil kept in a new binder. The picture of Neil and Andrew at Upstate Regional Airport was framed in their bedroom, and Noah liked that one the most.

“What time is he calling?” Andrew asked. He stole a swig of Neil’s energy drink before handing it over to Noah.

Neil intercepted his reach, grabbing the drink before the kid could lift it to his mouth, “Ah, that has way too much caffeine in it.”

Noah pouted, “You sound like Kevin.” Yeah, they really needed to stop talking about the foxes around the kid.

“He has a point.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Neil scolded, “Matt is calling around seven tonight, by the way.”

Andrew hummed, probably trying to figure out a way he could be out of the house when the rambunctious backliner called. He turned back to Noah, “Who’s picking you up from school today?”

Noah rested his chin in his hand, “It’s Wednesday, so you are. Don’t you have like, a photographic memory or something? Do you just get a kick out of asking me the same question every morning?”

Andrew finished packing up Noah’s lunch and then threw the bag to him. Noah caught it deftly with two hands. “I have an eidetic memory.” Andrew corrected as he headed into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

“What’s the difference?”

Neil shrugged, “Something to do with intention to remember versus just remembering. Ask him about it sometime.”

“Yeah, like he’ll give me a straight answer.” Noah grumbled, looking down at the lunch bag sitting in his lap.

Neil sighed. He had been trying to work with Andrew on being more clear with the kid. Now that they had been living together for more than a month, it was becoming clear that Neil and Andrew had no idea how to communicate with him sometimes. For years it had been just the two of them; talking in challenges and truths, circling each other in a relationship that they had built from the ground up. Noah didn’t have that history with them, and even though he understood their little quirks and seeked comfort in their gruffness, sometimes the kid needed a translator for the situations that the couple weren’t prepared to discuss.

“He asks you every day because he wants to make sure that you know who’s picking you up,” Neil said, making his way to the bathroom so he can shower, “so you’ll know who to call if we’re late.”

He ignored Noah’s mumbles of _I’m not a child_ as he joined Andrew in their morning routine of showering and shaving. They worked around each other in mutual silence, Neil hopping in the shower first since he was sweaty from his run while Andrew brushed his teeth and shaved at the sink. He grabbed the strawberry-scented shampoo, cheap and sweet from the convenience store next door, and worked it into his curls while contemplating their Skype call that night. Matt and Dan had kids of their own, twins with black curly hair and bright eyes not unlike Noah’s. Neil and Andrew had never babysat, but “the one on the left” (as Andrew so affectionately calls her) loves rubbing her hands over the scars on Neil’s face, much to the chagrin of her parents.

Matt was amazing with his kids, patient and fun like any good dad should be, not like Neil had any reference to go off of other than Wymack. He bought them children’s exy gear for their fourth birthday and made sure to spend time every night teaching them about the game, and since Dan was Wymack’s assistant coach, the kids had plenty of room at the Foxhole Court to play around and work off their ridiculous amounts of energy.

“Do you think Noah will want to play exy?” Neil mused, grabbing the washcloth to wash his face.

Andrew scoffed, “Want to teach the kid your junkie ways?”

“Little league starts with the school year,” Neil continued, “and all the good sales at Exites will end this month.”

Andrew pulled back the curtain enough so he could stick his head through, “You think Coach Elbert will take on another starting striker? The kid’s small enough he could just run underneath all the players on the court. Oh wait, we already have you for that.”

Neil flicked water at his face, causing the blonde to sputter and give him a glare in return. “I’m not kidding. I started little league at eleven, he’s not too far off from that. Give him an early start and he’ll be way ahead of the other kids come high school.”

Andrew hummed, “And we all know how well little league went for you.”

If his head was still in the firing zone, Neil would have dumped a handful of water on him by now. Instead he settled for a glare of his own, “I’m just saying, we should ask him.”

Andrew seemed to think about it for a moment, then closed the curtain so Neil could get back to showering in peace. “We’ll ask him, but we won’t push it.”

Neil nodded even though Andrew couldn’t see him. “Okay.”

 

oOo

 

“Your options are the Starbursts or the Penguins.” Neil flipped between the two websites so Noah could see the differences between the two teams.

“Hmmm go back to the pictures again.” Noah said. Neil clicked around until he found the team’s slideshow, action shots of kids Noah’s age that were much bigger than him playing Exy.

“So either yellow and blue or purple and orange,” Noah wrinkled his nose, “I know it’s little league, but those colors are gross.”

Neil had to agree with the kid, the uniforms were a far cry from the professional ones he and Andrew wore on game days. “If it helps your decision, the Starbursts practice at the same stadium as the Chargers. You could probably carpool there after school and then Andrew and I could take you home after practice.”

Noah nodded, “Yellow and blue it is then.”

Neil smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair, placing the laptop on the bedside table. He sat propped against the headboard while Noah laid on his stomach beside him, homework spread out on the starry comforter they picked out at Ikea a couple weeks ago. Noah had decided to take over the office, since the guest room practically belonged to Robin at this point and they wouldn’t have had to move the cat tree. The room was practically spotless all the time, the bed made and his clothes carefully folded every time Neil or Andrew came in. Neil was used to it, since Andrew insisted on keeping the apartment clean no matter what. He assumed that it had something to do with a few too many dirty foster homes, but he wasn’t going to ask unless the blonde was willing to talk about it.

Neil nudged Noah’s ankle with his foot, “Math?”

The kid shook his head, pencil stuck between his teeth as he stared down in concentration. “English.”

“Can I help?”

Noah huffed out a laugh, “I’ll wait for Andrew, thanks.”

Neil pouted and crossed his arms, “Andrew won’t be back until late tonight.” He had scheduled a coffee date with Renee, something he commonly did to get out of the house whenever Neil skyped with Matt. She lived an hour and a half away, so he probably wouldn’t get back until after the kid’s bedtime. Neil would tease him about it, but it was good for him and Renee to have that time together. “And I passed my college English course, I’ll have you know.”

Noah hummed, “Andrew said that you spent more time drawing in the margins of your papers than you did actually writing them.”  

“Tattletale.” Neil grumbled. He reached over to snag the paper Noah was working so diligently on, but the kid’s homework was saved by the sound of a telephone ringing. He looked over at the laptop perched on the table, the bright red Skype symbol blinking in the corner. He settled for glaring at the kid and then placed the laptop in his lap before hitting the answer button.

“Neil!” Matt yelled as soon as his face popped up on the screen. Yeah, he could see how this would be annoying to Andrew.

“Hey Matt, what’s up?” He looked over at Noah, who was definitely not working on his homework anymore, and held up a pointer finger to tell him _one minute._

“Not much, dude. The twins had their first day of summer school and oh my god, Dan picked out the cutest outfits for them to wear,” He glanced off screen and fiddled with something at his desk before reemerging with a picture of the twins standing side by side in matching overalls. “Hold on, I’ll airdrop the pics to you.”

Neil held up his hand, as if he could physically stop Matt from going on a rant about his kids. “Ah, wait a second Matt. There’s actually something I need to talk to you about.”

Matt dropped the photograph into his lap and readjusted the laptop camera, pulling the screen closer to him, “Dude, if you’re breaking up with Andrew we’re gonna need to go over some legal shit. Who will get Nicky in the divorce, Neil?”

“Nobody’s breaking up with anybody, Matt.” Neil cut him off, not even wanting to entertain the idea of a divorce. He glanced down at Noah, who was unsuccessfully trying to keep his giggles in by holding a hand over his mouth. “We have a new family member.”

The “F” word hadn’t come up in conversation very often, but they made sure that Noah knew he was wanted in their home through small gestures as often as they could. They purposely bought long-term things for him, like heavy furniture and clothes for the winter months even though it was still summer. They asked his opinion on what color to paint his room, what posters they should put up and what cake they should make next week. Andrew insisted that it helped, that the little things were what mattered in the long run when it came to foster kids. Even though they weren’t planning on letting him go, Noah needed to know that they were a family despite the fact that the couple had a tendency to shy away from the word itself.

Matt laughed, “Did Andrew let you adopt another cat?”

Neil raised an eyebrow and looked over at Noah again, the kid packing up his homework as if resigned that he wouldn’t get anything done. “Something like that.”

“Ooh, what’s its name? Did you let Nicky name it this time too?”

Neil hummed, “He came with a name, but I think we might change it to Dr. Snuffles. What do you think?” He asked Noah, a mischievous smile on his face. Noah narrowed his eyes, the only warning he got before he was tackled into the pillows. The kid launched at him with waggling fingers, but Neil acted quickly and hoisted him over his shoulder before he could start tickling his armpits.

Noah giggled, high-pitched and piercing right next to the redhead’s ears. “Uncle, uncle oh my god Neil!” Neil laughed and dropped the kid onto the pillows beside him. Noah was still laughing when he turned back to the laptop, a confused but smiling Matt staring back at them.

“Alright, so I’m going to need an explanation. That,” He pointed to the right, where Noah laid starfished next to Neil, “is not a cat.”

Neil nodded, “Good observation.” He looked down as the kid curled up against his side, his fingers grasping the bottom of Neil’s hoodie while he looked side-eyed at the computer screen. They were working on his social skills, but he still shut down whenever he met strangers. No matter how excited he was to meet the backliner, it would take some time before he was his usual self around him. “Although he is doing a great impression of a cat right now. Matt, meet Noah.”

Matt still looked confused, but he offered his brightest smile as he said, “Hi Noah, nice to meet you.”

“Hi Matt,” Noah replied, giving the camera a small wave. Neil ran a hand through the kid’s curls in a comforting gesture as they sat in awkward silence.

“Um, so… A new family member, huh?” Matt said after awhile, scratching the back of his head nervously.

“Andrew and I are fostering him,” Neil explained. They had agreed awhile ago not to mention adoption around Noah until it was final and all the paperwork was processed. Reading had promised to get back to them by the end of the summer, but they were still anxious about the whole ordeal.

At Matt’s look of increasing confusion, Neil nudged Noah until he looked up at him, “Can you feed the cats while I talk to Matt for a minute?” The kid rolled his eyes in a gesture that meant _I know what you’re doing_ but got off the bed regardless, gathering his bookbag before leaving the bedroom.

At the sound of the door closing, Matt let out a noise of frustration. “What the hell, Neil? You’re _fostering_ him? Since when? When were you going to tell us?”

“I literally just told you. So… today.”

Matt cursed under his breath, “Now is not the time for your sass, although I love it and you very much. But _what the hell_ , Neil? You’ve never even volunteered to babysit my kids, what’s with the sudden urge to adopt one of your own? And don’t even get me started on Andrew.”

“What’s wrong with Andrew?”

“You know exactly what’s wrong with Andrew. I barely trust him with your cats let alone a child.”

“Okay, first of all they’re _our_ cats and he’s amazing with Noah.” He really was. Andrew had never really interacted with the foxes’ children during their yearly get togethers, but with Noah he was a whole other person. He was patient and calm, even when the kid was in one of his moods. Andrew treated Noah like he was someone to protect, like he was already theirs even though the adoption papers hadn’t gone through yet. Neil could have never predicted the way that Andrew let his guard down around the kid, had let him into his life after just meeting him once. He didn’t know how to tell Matt that it scared him, how attached they were to him already, how it took just one phone call from Reading to completely destroy the comfortable life they had built together after just a handful of weeks.

“Do you even know what you’re doing? Foster kids belong to the government, Neil, there are rules.”

“We have lawyers, caseworkers, and police officers working with us, Matt. We didn’t go into this completely blind. Noah needed us, and we stepped forward. _Andrew_ stepped forward.”

Matt took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seeming to remember who he was talking to. “Then explain this to me from the beginning, Neil.” He said calmly. So Neil did.

He started with meeting Noah in the library, explaining the cuts and bruises with a clinical detachment while Matt listened intently and cut in with his own questions. He explained Skyping with Robin and contacting the lawyer and county attorney, listing out the details of the CHIPs petition and the investigation. Matt went quiet as Neil launched into the story of Noah’s disappearance, the weeks of worry and grief as they waited and waited for word from the kid, the hours spent in the library with a phone set in front of them, too nervous to crack open a book. Matt leaned forward with interest as he recounted the phone call with Noah, leaving practice in a rush to find out that the kid had been waiting for that Wednesday to show up all along and was locked in a storage shed by his stepfather. The backliner cursed when he got to the cigarette burns, the trial, and finally the visit to his house.

“Andrew told me that the basement was littered with trash,” He said, his arms crossed over his chest in anger, “he had a perfectly good room upstairs, complete with toys and posters and everything a little boy would need. But he made the kid sleep in the basement on an old mattress with the rats.”

“Damn, Neil.” Matt said, rubbing a hand across his face, “That poor kid.”

Neil sighed, “He’s a fox. He belongs here, Matt. We may not be the best parents, but we know what he went through and we know how to handle it.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do? I mean, you’re fostering him, so the next logical step is to adopt, right?”

“Andrew and I filed the paperwork the moment we got back from the hospital.”

Matt stared in shock, “Jesus, you guys move fast. I mean, first the marriage and now this.”

Neil rolled his eyes, “You got a twenty four hour notice for the marriage, I don’t see why that was such a shock for you.”

“You called me while I was on my honeymoon, Neil. Dan was so mad at me for leaving her just two days after we landed in Hawaii.”

“You didn’t have to come.”

Matt frowned, “And miss my best friend’s wedding? Who the fuck do you take me for? Some kind of third-rate acquaintance? You know what, don’t answer that.”

Neil laughed, the tension slowly leaving his shoulders as he settled into their friendship like a well-worn jacket. “Okay, so Noah is probably out in the living room. Do you want to try talking to him again?”

“Duh.”

Gathering the laptop in his arms, Neil clambered off the bed and walked out to the living room. He knocked lightly on the doorframe to announce his presence, taking a moment to drink in the scene in front of him. Noah laid on the floor, his homework from earlier spread out around him but his focus remaining solely on the cats crawling over his back. He giggled as King’s whiskers tickled his face, batting at the cat’s snout in fake irritation.

“Matt wants to talk to you again, is that okay?” Neil asked as he entered the living room and sat cross-legged in front of him.

Noah shrugged, displacing the cat that was crawling across his shoulders. Neil patted the spot next to him and the kid sat up and scooted over, his shoulders knocking against Neil’s as he got comfortable.

“Hey kid,” Matt said, waving as he saw Noah enter the frame of the camera, “you’ve got three options here. You can either call me Uncle Matt, Matt the Conqueror, or Matt-Attack. Choose wisely.”

Noah laughed, “I’ll go with Uncle Matt, it seems to be the most normal of the three.”

“Hmm, a wise choice.” Matt rubbed his chin in thought, “Now, I know you’re a little young but have you considered accepting Exy as your lord and savior?”

Neil watched as Noah relaxed into the conversation, trading wits with Matt like they were old buddies catching up over the weekend. Noah’s shy attitude from earlier was completely gone, replaced with the rambunctious kid he and Andrew were used to dealing with on a day to day basis. Neil got up from the floor after awhile and set to task making peanut butter sandwiches for supper, and by the time he came back to the living room their conversation had changed topics about five times already. Noah had a smile plastered on his face, dimples like craters in his cheeks as he laid on the floor with the laptop perched on his chest, the cats crawling over his stomach as they set about doing cat things.

“And I swear, your dad had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face when he told the reporter to fuck off!” Matt exclaimed through the tinny laptop speakers. Neil froze, the plate of sandwiches nearly falling from his grasp before he caught himself in time.

Noah looked up at him, confusion written clearly on his face as Neil stiffly sat on the carpet and set the plate between them. “...Well the reporter deserved it,” Noah said, returning his attention back to the conversation, “she practically stalked them!”

Yeah, there was no mistake. They were definitely talking about Neil. _Your dad your dad your dad_. The striker repeated the phrase in his head multiple times, trying and failing to ignore the growing anxiety in his stomach.

“Neil?”

Neil opened his eyes to see Noah, laying on the floor with a sandwich halfway to his mouth. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I…” Neil swallowed audibly, “I need to call Andrew real quick.” At Matt’s look of concern, he shook his head, “I’m fine. I’ll be right back.” He ignored the familiar sigh of frustration from the backliner as he shut the bedroom door behind him.

He fumbled with his phone for a minute before finally hitting the first speed dial, his heartbeat racing and his throat constricting with a panic he tried to bury.

“Neil.” Andrew answered after the first two rings. Neil sighed in relief at the familiar deep tone, commanding and calming all at once.

“I’m fine,” Neil was quick to say, “Just… When will you be home?”

“Half an hour.”

Neil huffed out a laugh, the lack of oxygen causing it to sound strangled. “Liar.”

“Still got Higgin’s number?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Then I’ll be home in half an hour.”

His breath evened out just a little bit, Andrew’s calm acceptance of the situation smoothing out the straw-like constriction in his throat. In the past, the panic would wash over his head like a tidal wave and drown out all thought and touch and feeling, until all that was left would be a washed-out shell of a human being, yet now someone is always there to bring him out of it, to pull him to the surface with a steady voice and calloused hands on the back of his neck. “Don’t get caught.” He said, mindful of the speeding tickets they have stacked in their bedside drawer.

“Text the Pig.” Andrew replied. Neil could hear the jingling of keys on his end of the phone, as well as Renee’s soft voice. “And don’t scare the kid.”

Neil hummed, “Matt’s entertaining him right now. We’ll be fine.”

“Mmhm, that’s what they all say.”

Neil rolled his eyes and hung up, sitting on the edge of their bed to wait in his half-state of panic while Andrew broke every speeding law known to man. He contemplated sending a few text messages to Higgins, but it seemed like too much effort to get his hands to cooperate long enough. They were shaking, fine tremors that wouldn’t stop unless he stuck them under his thighs and took deep breaths that took more effort than he was willing to put forth.

It could have been seconds or it could have been hours, but soon enough he heard the click of the apartment door and Noah’s surprised voice filtering through the living room while Andrew kicked his boots off against the wall. “I’m going to check on him,” Andrew said, muffled yet audible through the barrier of the bedroom door, “Go the fuck to sleep, Boyd.”

Neil didn’t catch Matt’s response, but it was probably mocking since Andrew looked ready to commit murder the moment he entered the room. Neil offered him a small smile, but it was half-hearted at most.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Andrew asked gruffly, but his hand was gentle as he gripped the back of Neil’s neck.

The familiar weight loosened the tension in his shoulders, his breathing deepening with more ease each second Andrew stood in front of him. “I told Matt about us adopting Noah,” He said, mindful to keep his voice down since the kid was sitting in the next room, “he took it… a little too far when he was talking with Noah and called me his dad.”

A couple seconds passed as his own words sunk in, the panic returning as a small subset at the forefront of his mind. Andrew squeezed the back of his neck a little harder and then crouched in front of him, meeting his gaze with an impassive expression. “And Noah?” He asked.

Neil shook his head, “No reaction.”

Andrew seemed to roll that around in his mind for a minute. “I will say this as many times as I have to for you to get it through your thick, Exy-obsessed mind,” He said, the grip on Neil’s neck almost bruising, “you are not your father.”

Neil sucked in a quick breath, but whatever he was going to say was cut off as soon as Andrew held a pointer finger up to his lips. “No talking, more listening.”

The striker lifted an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless.

“Would I ever abandon Noah and put him into the foster system, into a stranger’s home without his consent?”

Neil shook his head vehemently.

“Would I ever hit him just because it made me feel better about myself? Even though I was expressly warned not to?”

Neil glared at him, extremely confused about the direction of Andrew’s questions but not willing to break his silence. Andrew had a point, he was sure of it, so he shook his head _no_.

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner.” Andrew said, his face remaining blank despite his words, “I am nothing like Tilda. I am _nothing_ like my own flesh and blood. Even though we have the same hair and the same eyes and the same fucking height, I would never treat Noah the same way that woman treated me and Aaron. So what makes you think that Neil Minyard-Josten and Nathan Wesninski are any different.”

Neil closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, his hand coming up to rest at the crook of Andrew’s elbow. “It isn’t,” He said softly, “it isn’t any different. But Andrew this is big -- bigger than my issues. People are going to refer to us as Noah’s parents and he can’t run from that. Even if he never calls us…”

“His dads.” Andrew supplied.

Neil nodded, “Even if he never calls us his dads, we’ll always be that to the other people in his life. Think about his friend’s parents, his teachers, his coaches… He can’t deny any relationship he has with us.”

“We really need Betsy to check on your martyr complex, it’s like a sickness.” Andrew rested his other hand on Neil’s and squeezed, “We’re not holding him here against his will, idiot. We’ll have to go through a bunch of legal shit and the process of screening every single future foster family will be a pain in the ass, but he can leave this apartment at any time.”

Neil looked up at him, a look of fear etched on his face as if it pained him to even think about the kid leaving their home.

Andrew nodded, “We made sure that we’re better than his stepfather. Now it’s up to him to decide that staying with us is the best option moving forward. We keep asking _yes or no_ until it’s _no_ , and then we back the fuck off.”

Neil sighed, rotating his hand so it lay open in invitation. Andrew threaded his fingers through his and squeezed with the same pressure as the grip on his neck. The two points of contact grounded him, stifling his panic and driving it away like a dust mote in the wind, small and insignificant. “Okay.” He said.

Andrew hummed, “Although it seems to me that Noah doesn’t want to change families anytime soon.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He didn’t mind when Matt called you his dad.”

Neil blinked, replaying the conversation in his mind as he stared blankly at Andrew. “I swear you and this kid are going to be the death of me.”

Letting go of Neil’s neck, Andrew stood up and brushed invisible dust from his jeans. “We both know you’re impossible to kill.”

Neil laughed, leaning back on the bed with his arms outstretched. He felt exhausted from his near panic attack, his limbs slowly relaxing from the constant tension he had them in. Some small part of his brain was telling him that he should still be afraid, that every fear that weighed down on his scarred chest would one day suffocate him like a million bricks, that Andrew wouldn’t be there on time when it finally did kill him. It was a struggle to get through the day without drowning in that tidal wave of panic. Neil and Andrew’s issues were the basis for their relationship, a crumbling foundation that required constant effort on both sides to hold true, and it wasn’t always easy.

Andrew leaned over him and pinned his wrists against the cushions with a soft grip.“Yes or no?” He asked. Neil nodded and received a brush of Andrew’s lips in return.

Some things were easier than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws the chapter at you* it's 1:30 at night and i have 0% of chapter 3 done pls don't yell at me if it takes a little longer to get it out to you 
> 
> to hold you off in the meantime:  
> 1\. parent/teacher conferences?  
> 2\. little league starts??  
> 3\. MORE FOXES???


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing he became aware of was the smell of smoke, intermingled with the salt of the ocean as it drifted with the wind on a sandy beach. It clogged his throat, a thick raspy wave of unheard sobs coating the inside and sticking like coagulated blood in the depths of his gut. It smelled like burnt hair and gasoline, and it felt like grief and fear and an all-encompassing loneliness that left him shaking like a leaf on the winds of a California beach. The second thing he became aware of was the sound of crying, muffled through several walls yet loud enough to jar him awake in the middle of the night, his legs jerking against the tangled sheets as he woke up to a dark room. The third thing he noticed was Andrew.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” The blonde whispered, his voice thick with sleep as he stared at Neil from his side of the bed.

Neil rubbed a hand across his eyes and blinked in the darkness, his vision slowly adjusting to the sight of his and Andrew’s bedroom, the cats fast asleep at the end of their bed. “How long?”

“About ten minutes.”

Neil sighed in relief, “So it’s not a bad one.”

“It’s all relative,” Andrew shrugged, the action awkward since he was still wrapped up in several layers of blankets, “do you want me to take it?”

The soft sobs that came from the other end of their apartment had died down a little since Neil had first woken up, but this was the third time in the past week and last night’s had lasted for two hours. “I’ll take it.” He said, moving the comforter off of him and folding it on top of Andrew’s burrito nest, “You were lagging in practice yesterday.”

Andrew glared, but it’s effect was lost as he snuggled further into the pillows, “Whatever. Don’t read past chapter twelve.”

Neil rolled his eyes as he pulled on his sweatpants. “Reading Harry Potter to him is your thing.”

Andrew hummed, “So much more interesting than watching Exy reruns.”

“It gets him to sleep faster.”

“You’re proving my point.”

Neil would retort, but the blonde was already drifting back to sleep. He pulled on a t-shirt to cover his scars, one that he kept on the floor next to the bed just in case Noah came into their bedroom at night, and pet behind King’s ears before leaving the bedroom. The apartment was littered with small nightlights, one for each outlet. They were there for comfort as well as safety, plus Andrew was convinced that Sir was nightblind. 

He knocked on the door to Noah’s room and waited for a tear-filled  _ Come in _ before entering. Noah’s bedroom was a far cry from the office the couple had previously used the room for, now decked out with superhero posters, hand-painted constellations on the ceiling, and even more cat toys. They ended up buying him a queen-sized bed, since the kid liked to keep one half of it covered in books while the other half was meant for sleeping, and a large bookshelf that took up a third of the room. It was spotless as always, his clothes for tomorrow neatly folded on the top of his dresser and the books on his bookshelf (the ones that he and Andrew were not currently reading) placed delicately on each shelf, organized by author name and title.  

Currently, the kid lay beneath a pile of blankets on the sleeping-side of his bed, the mop of curls on the pillow the only part of him sticking out from beneath the starry comforter. Neil set a couple of books on the floor and climbed onto the mattress, careful not to jostle the kid too much as he settled against the pillows stacked against the headboard. “Yes?” He asked.

At Noah’s small nod, he reached over and carded his hand through the kid’s mop of curls. “What was it this time?”

Noah sniffled, but it seemed like his tears had pretty much ended for the night. “The basement.” He answered softly.

Neil nodded, “That’s a common one for me too.”

Hazel eyes peeked out from the top of the comforter, red-rimmed and tear-filled. “Did you have one tonight?”

“Mmhm, it was the beach this time.”

Noah winced, “Was it bad?”

“Not terrible, no.” He shrugged, his hand still running through the kid’s curls as he thought back to the nightmare. “Andrew helped, and so did the cats.”

“Mmm, the cats help me too. Gary always hated animals.”

Neil smiled, “Maybe we could convince Andrew to get a kitten. Then we would have one for each member of the family.”

A mischievous smile spread across Noah’s face, “Can we name it Dr. Snuffles?”

Neil laughed and teasingly tugged on one of his curls, untangling it in the process. “That’s your name, though.”

Noah wrinkled his nose, “I’m going to sign all of my homework assignments ‘Dr. Snuffles’, and then you’ll have to explain it to Mr. Porter.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Noah crossed his arms, “Try me.”

They were already not looking forward to parent teacher conferences the next day, he might as well not make it worse by adding on more things to stress about. “You win this round, Dr. Snuffles. Just for that, we’ll watch two Trojan games tonight.”

Noah groaned and flopped backwards onto the pillows, “Can’t we watch Foxes versus Ravens instead?”

“You’ve watched that one like fourteen times already.”

“A true classic.”

“Alright yeah, you’re definitely spending way too much time with Andrew.”

Noah stuck out his tongue. Neil ignored it as he walked out to the living room and grabbed his laptop, King weaving in and out of his legs while he walked back to Noah’s room. He bent down to pick up the cat and dropped it onto Noah’s head, enjoying the surprised yelp from both of them as he climbed onto the book-side of the bed.

King settled in between them on the mattress, his back pressed up against the crook of Noah’s knees. Neil pulled up the videos on his laptop, a Macbook that Nicky insisted they needed after he made the Skype schedule, and set the computer on his lap. Noah remained tucked underneath the covers while he queued up several of Jeremy and Jean’s best games, the volume turned down enough that he could barely make out the commentator’s voice from the laptop speakers.

By halftime, Noah had moved over enough that his head rested against Neil’s stomach, his hand twisted in the fabric of the striker’s t-shirt. His breathing evened out, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as if caught in a pleasant dream. Neil rested his hand on the kid’s head, in the process of carding his fingers through Noah’s curls even as he fell asleep long before the last video had ended.

He woke up the next morning to the feeling of a rough tongue lapping at the burn scars on his cheek. He swatted at the cat’s face, squinting in the light that filtered through Noah’s bedroom window. 

“We’re going to be late.” A familiar voice said. Neil sat up a little, recognizing Andrew as he stood in the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. “You missed your morning run.”

Neil groaned and checked the alarm clock on the bedside table. “Noah.” He said, his voice rising in panic at the time displayed on the clock, “Noah, wake up, you’re late for school.”

The kid in question whined, his head hidden beneath a pillow and cushioned on Neil’s abdomen. Neil nudged his shoulder and repeated his name until he finally sat up, his curls sticking straight up like a stiffened octopus and his eyes still closed. He and Andrew were the worst morning people, but right now they really needed to get some energy in the kid if they were going to make it to school on time.

At Neil’s look of near-panic, Andrew nodded and left the room, “I’ll get the sugary cereal, you get him ready to go.” 

Neil shuffled Noah off the bed, shooing the cats out of the room so that they didn’t try to cuddle the kid back to sleep. Noah looked up at him, bleary-eyed and loose-limbed, as he handed him his clothes for the day, but proceeded to change relatively fast when Neil gave him a pointed look. He kept an eye on the clock as they brushed their teeth in front of the bathroom mirror and attempted to brush out their matching clump of curls, Andrew jangling his keys in impatience the entire time. When they finally left for the car, Andrew handed over a ziplock baggie full of Captain Crunch to both of them and then peeled out of the parking garage at record speed.

In the end, Noah was half an hour late to school and the couple were a full hour late to practice. They shrugged off Trevor’s furious lecture in the locker room, changing into workout clothes since the rest of the team was already at the gym.

“This won’t happen again, will it?” Coach asked as they entered through the gym doors. Andrew shook his head, as good an answer as any, and Coach nodded. They were both men of few words, but they had come to an understanding pretty early on that Andrew would do whatever Coach wanted if he didn’t ask for too much. This was his team, and Andrew and Neil needed to keep the peace as best they could.

Neil gave Laila a fist bump on his way to the treadmill, Andrew taking the machine next to him so they could start their warm up. “How many games?” He asked, turning the incline up to it’s max before punching in a ridiculously slow speed.

Neil started at a light jog, slowly bumping up the speed as the miles wore on. “It took half a game for him to fall asleep. Pretty good considering the last couple of nights.”

Andrew nodded, a few minutes passing by as they warmed up in silence. “I’ll call Bee when we get home.”

“He does alright with the court-mandated therapist,” Neil said, finally working up to a sprint, “but Bee would probably be better, especially if we brought him up to Palmetto for a couple of sessions.” He had come to terms with the fact that the therapist knew what she was doing. Andrew was calmer, more at ease with himself after he finished with their phone sessions every Wednesday. After picking him up from the court-mandated therapist, Noah almost always fell asleep in the car and then refused to go to bed the same night. It was an odd reaction, but Andrew would almost always stay up with him to talk about it until the kid eventually fell asleep, usually in their bed or on the living room couch.

“Planning a trip down memory lane?” Andrew asked.

Neil shrugged, the action a little awkward since he was running pretty rigorously at that point. “It would be nice to visit Matt and Dan. Wymack and Abby will be there too, we could have dinner or something.”

Andrew hummed, “I thought we were avoiding people for the time being.”

Lowering the speed on the treadmill, Neil panted with exertion from his sprint and increased the incline for a light jog. “We can wait until after the paperwork goes through. Reading said it could be any day now.”

“Your optimism is reaching epic proportions.” 

“I think it complements your pessimism pretty well. Isn’t that how this couple thing works?” 

Andrew reached over and hit the red button on Neil’s treadmill, halting his run and causing the striker to stumble over his feet. He glared at the blonde’s back as he retreated to the weights area.

The idea of visiting some of the foxes lifted his spirits throughout their workout routine. Brian turned on some heavy metal rock music while they did bench presses, but he was soon bullied by Alvarez enough to put on some intermittent pop music that had ridiculous beats and even worse lyrics. Neil couldn’t decide if it was better or worse than Andrew’s taste back in college.

They broke apart for running laps, Andrew, Trevor, and Neil taking the outer circuit around the court while the rest of the team ran sprints. Morning practice ended after they ran some Raven drills, Neil sweaty and exhausted as they listened to Coach prattle on about the upcoming game on Saturday. Renee had agreed to watch Noah for the night, since the kid didn’t like crowds and taking him to an Exy game that was four hours away was out of the question. They had introduced the two of them soon after Neil’s disastrous Skype call with Matt, since Andrew had spent that night talking with Renee about the problems they were having with Noah’s nightmares.

They were excused from afternoon practice since Neil and Andrew had to attend a parent teacher conference after school that day. Carrie had listed them as the official guardians on Noah’s transcript for the rest of the school year, so they were receiving constant emails from the office secretary about events, fundraisers, and all of the dates for conferences in the upcoming year. It was intimidating, to say the least, but Noah assured them that the only thing he was involved in this year was little league, so they could thankfully skip the choir concerts.   

They stopped for fast food on their way to the elementary school, Andrew scarfing down four burgers in the time it took for Neil to eat his wrap. They grabbed a few clementines and a bottle of milk for Noah, since the kid would be missing out on his afternoon snack at the after school program, and then drove the rest of the way in nervous silence. Well, Neil was nervous. He didn’t know what the teacher knew about them or their situation with Noah, whether he knew about the abuse and just didn’t report it, or whether he was just as idiotic as the rest of the people in Noah’s life before they picked him up. He also didn’t know what to expect from Andrew. The blonde could be unnecessarily intimidating, but Neil wasn’t going to stop him if he decided that the teacher wasn’t worth their time. 

They entered the elementary school and were immediately assaulted by brightly painted walls and badly drawn artwork hung haphazardly by colorful string, the noise of children like a background soundtrack throughout the entryway and adjacent hallways. A few parents were already there, as well as a group of students standing in the hallway in a straight and semi-organized line. A few teachers stood by the kids, ensuring that they were on their best behavior while the parents wandered in one after another. Andrew and Neil were herded over to a sign up table, where a nervous old woman pointed out where to sign and where to go.

Andrew signed their names and listed Noah Weiderman as their son. It was so easy and simple, that Neil was struck dumb for a moment, his eyes tracking every stroke of the pen as Andrew indicated which grade and teacher Noah had for that year. He reached out and brushed his fingers against Andrew’s elbow, catching his eyes as he straightened out and handed the sheet over to the old woman. Andrew nodded, a small confirmation that he understood what Neil was going through, that he knew how the striker felt about such a small action. It wasn’t final, but they could pretend for the moment.

They were instructed to pick up their kid and head to his homeroom, but before they could look for Noah in the crowd, a familiar voice shouted, “Andrew! Neil!”

They turned around to find the kid barrelling through a group of teachers, a wide grin on his face as he ran towards them with his arms outstretched. Neil raised an eyebrow but opened his arms nonetheless and gave the kid a quick hug before he turned around and slipped his hand into Andrew’s. “I’m surprised you guys got here on time.” He teased.

Neil ruffled the kid’s curls with a swipe of his hand, “If Andrew had gone back for another burger, we would have been late.” He looked over at the goalkeeper, expecting some sort of rapport, but Andrew was distracted by something in the crowd. Neil followed his gaze to the other parents, mothers and fathers who were watching their interaction with the occasional look of disgust and mild curiosity. Some seemed to pull their children away from their group, giving Andrew and Neil a look of irritation before leaving the entryway entirely. Some just looked back and forth between Noah and the couple, working the math out in their head in a not-so-obvious way. Neil knew that he and Andrew looked nothing like the rest of them; upper-middle-class, mothers and fathers that had children that looked exactly like them, who didn’t have scars mottling their cheeks and weren’t the height of your average sixth grader. Neil scowled, the familiar anger clawing its way up his throat that he usually let loose upon nosy reporters. Before he could say anything however, he felt the familiar weight of Andrew’s arm winding around his hip, steering him and Noah towards the left hallway, away from the crowd and the judging eyes of strangers.

“Piranhas.” Noah hissed, crossing his arms as they entered the abandoned hallway. At Neil and Andrew’s confused look, he continued, “I have a friend in my class that loves fish, he talks to me all about them during recess, so yeah… I’ve decided that those parents are piranhas. But you guys are sharks.” He grinned up at them.

Andrew patted him on the head, offering his own quirk of the lips. “Smart kid.”

Neil feigned surprise, “You have friends?”

The kid gave him a dirty look, but his excitement won out as he grabbed the striker’s hands and pulled him forward, a grin planted firmly on his face. “Whatever. We’re going to be late!” He exclaimed. Andrew followed behind them, his fingers twitching for a cigarette.

The classroom was large but intimate, with beanbag chairs piled in one corner and bookcases lining the walls. Each student had their own cubby hole, Noah’s in particular filled with books and coloring supplies. The teacher sat at a desk at the front of the room, a man in his late twenties with a cardigan and bowtie. He offered them a polite smile and gestured at the three child-sized chairs set out in front of the desk. Andrew and Neil sat down, Noah taking the seat next to Neil and giving the teacher a small wave.

“I have to say, I’ve never seen parents that could easily fit in those chairs before.” Mr. Porter said, gesturing at the small chairs they sat on. 

Neil laughed awkwardly while Andrew narrowed his eyes and propped his feet on the teacher’s desk, knocking over a few kitten-shaped knick knacks. Mr. Porter glanced at his boots warily, but chose not to say anything, instead focusing his attention on Noah. “Why don’t you introduce me to your parents, Noah?”

The kid sat up straighter, his hands clutching the bottom of his seat with excitement. “This is Andrew and Neil Minyard-Josten.” He said confidently. 

The teacher managed to keep the confusion off his face, save for a small uptick of his eyebrow. “I heard that Noah’s guardianship had changed, but I’m surprised to see two of the most sought-after class one Exy players in the league sitting in my classroom.” He held out his hand for a handshake, “Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Porter.”

Neil’s face lit up at the mention of Exy, and he hesitantly reached out to shake the man’s hand. Andrew’s face remained passive, but he shook his hand when it was offered despite his reservations.

“Let’s get started then, shall we?” He opened a file he had laying on his desk,  _ Noah _ outlined on the front in sparkly blue lettering. “His grades have definitely improved since the beginning of the year, but his science grade is a little worse for wear.” He held out a few sheets of paper to Andrew, but redirected his reach when all the blonde did was stare blankly at him. Neil looked them over, a couple worksheets that had butterfly life cycles and plant anatomy scrawled out in Noah’s handwriting. Neither one of the couple specialized in science, so Neil made a mental note to look into tutors or something for the future if Noah’s grades kept slipping.

Neil nodded and handed the papers back. The teacher droned on about Noah’s participation in class and his interactions with his peers, all positively improving as far as he was concerned. As Mr. Porter got stuck on describing his methods for teaching physical education, Neil looked over at Noah and mouthed  _ Hungry? _ At the kid’s nod, he pulled the bag of clementines and milk out of his duffle bag and handed it over. 

“His reading level is almost as high as a freshman in high school’s,” Neil tuned back into the conversation after stealing one of the clementines, peeling it with careful precision, “have you considered advanced language classes? The local high school might be able to offer after school programs for him.”

“He has little league after school. Unless you’re more interested in language classes?” Neil asked, directing his question to Noah. 

The kid popped a slice of fruit into his mouth, chewing as he thought. “Is there any way to do both?”

Mr. Porter flipped through the papers on his desk, “There might be a few before school programs,” he said distractedly, “and we could work with the coach of your little league team to see if we can switch off.” 

Neil saw Andrew frowning in the corner of his eye, his fingers tightening around the arms of the chair he sat in. Neil tilted his head in question but before he could ask if he was okay, Andrew lowered his feet from the desk and leaned forward to look at Noah. “You have therapy and meetings with Carrie every week, court dates once a month, little league and homework every night, and you’re not getting enough sleep on top of everything.” He said with a blank face, listing the items off on his hand. 

Neil nodded, “We can add extra language classes, but they can also be held off for another year. It’s up to you, Noah.” Noah frowned and sipped at his milk. Neil didn’t miss the way Mr. Porter gave them a look of approval.

“We can talk about it later,” Andrew said, grabbing the last slice of clementine out of Neil’s hands and popping it in his mouth, “send us an email with his options.”

Mr. Porter nodded and flipped through his papers a little more, seeming to look for another subject to talk about. “I noticed that Noah was a little late to school this morning.”

“It won’t happen again. Moving on,” Andrew interrupted, crossing his legs with an air of importance, “You’ve been Noah’s homeroom teacher all year, correct?”

“Yes, I took over for Mrs. Muller when she left for maternity leave last year. She decided not to come back.” 

Catching on to where Andrew was going with this, Neil nudged the goalkeeper’s elbow and looked pointedly at Noah. Andrew brushed a hand over his, a gesture that meant  _ I know _ . 

“Did Noah’s previous guardian ever come to these conferences?”

Mr. Porter frowned, “No, I don’t think he did. He always made sure to send Noah with an excuse for his absences, though.”

Andrew hummed, “And how many absences did Noah have during the school year?”

The teacher furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before flipping through his all-important papers again. Neil was starting to grow frustrated, but he noticed the tension in Noah’s shoulders at the mention of his stepfather. He reached over and began rubbing small circles on the kid’s back, a calming method that usually worked.

“About fifteen, but a lot of these were viable excuses.” Mr. Porter said after awhile, finally locating his attendance records. “Noah is known for being a clumsy child, after all.” He smiled, like Neil and Andrew were in on a joke. 

Neil’s stomach dropped, a sick feeling clawing up his throat. The teacher really didn’t know. “You thought his injuries were what? Just…  _ accidents? _ ” He said, trying and failing to keep his voice down.

Mr. Porter held up his hands in defense, “I received notes from the doctor. They all said that he was doing typical kid stuff, like falling out of trees and getting into fights with other kids.”

Neil was all too familiar with hiding injuries and scars with stories, like fairy tales he would tell his teachers anytime they got too nosy. He wondered if Noah had played along, had laughed off the bruises and the cuts every time someone asked about them. Neil had always wondered what would have happened had an adult looked closer, had seen through the lies that he wove in protection around him and his mom. Part of him knew that it would be bad, that it would grab the attention of police officers and government workers. But another part of him just wanted someone to notice the scared little boy that he was, broken and damaged from the ones that should have cared about him the most.   

Andrew crossed his arms, his fingers skimming along the edges of his black armbands as if wishing the knives were still hidden inside. “I hope you’ve realized by now that his stepfather was responsible for those ‘accidents.’”

Mr. Porter’s face was white as a sheet as he stared first at Andrew, then at Noah. Neil wondered if this would have been the reaction his and Andrew’s teachers would have had, had they known what kind of terrors they faced every night in their own homes, in their own beds. He looked over at Noah and noticed the familiar blank mask that fit so easily over his face, the orange peels hanging loosely from his fingertips as he stared back at his teacher. “Andrew, I think it’s time to go.” He said, running a hand through Noah’s curls before grabbing the duffle bag at his feet. 

“I - I’m sorry, is Mr. Reidland…?” Mr. Porter stumbled over his words, as if struggling to get them out.

“In jail? Oh yes, very much so.” Andrew said, standing up so he could lean over the teacher’s desk, his hands braced on either side of the pile of papers. “We ensured that Mr. Reidland would never see the light of day again, let alone his dead wife’s son.”

Noah made a small wounded noise, caught in his throat like he was trying to force it back. Neil held his hand out, but when the kid refused to take it he crouched down so he could catch his eyes. “Noah, let’s go home.” He said softly, picking the orange peels off his lap and setting them on the floor. Mr. Porter could deal with the mess. Noah looked back at him blankly, like he was a million miles away. “I can carry you, if that’s what you want. I just need a yes or no.”

Noah blinked a couple times, his eyes never leaving Neil’s, and then nodded slightly. Neil figured it was as good a confirmation as he was going to get, and slipped his arms around and under his legs to lift him out of the chair. Noah buried his nose in the striker’s neck, his hands clutching at the collar of his t-shirt as Neil settled the kid’s weight on his hip.

“You just couldn’t be bothered, could you?” Andrew hissed, his attention still on Mr. Porter, who was turning more and more pale by the minute. “You get a doctor’s note as an excuse and you immediately think that everything’s all right with the kid. His stepfather never shows up to conferences, so you think it’s just because he’s busy.”

“Andrew.” Neil said quietly, mindful of the kid currently sniffling into his shirt collar.

At the sound of his name, Andrew turned around, taking in the sight of an upset Noah clinging to an even angrier Neil. The goalkeeper narrowed his eyes and turned back to the teacher, “I suggest you brush up on your mandatory reporting classes.” He said, grabbing the duffle bag off of Neil’s shoulder so he could hold onto the kid better. He found Noah’s Avenger’s backpack next to his cubby hole and slipped one arm into it. “We’re leaving.”

Neil followed Andrew out of the classroom, hitching Noah up higher on his hip since the kid was barely supporting his own weight. Andrew made a beeline for the entryway exit, avoiding the touch of parents and kids but still managing to piss them off with how fast he shoved past them. They garnered a lot of confused looks from the adults, a lot of them eying Noah in Neil’s arms as he kept his face buried in the crook of the redhead’s neck. Andrew didn’t stop until they reached the Maserati, his hand held out as he impatiently waited for Neil to catch up.

The striker dug around in his jeans for a minute, a task that was pretty difficult given the seventy pound weight he had hanging off of him. He pulled out their pack of cigarettes and placed it in Andrew’s hand, and then rounded the back of the car so he could situate Noah in the backseat. The kid looked up at him with teary eyes, but he was obviously mad, his brows furrowed and his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Neil sighed, “Mr. Porter or Andrew?”

Noah looked out the far window, where Andrew was furiously lighting up cigarette after cigarette and dropping them onto the ground after just taking one drag. 

“He’ll calm down as soon as we get some ice cream into him,” Neil said, reaching up to run a hand through the kid’s curls, “I’m more worried about you.”

That awful blank expression made a reappearance on Noah’s face, but his shoulders were still lined with tension. Neil tilted his head to catch the kid’s eyes, “What am I missing?”

Noah shrugged dismissively. It was a common occurrence, Noah shutting down like a machine without its power source. Normal kids would have had a tantrum, too overwhelmed to think rationally about the situation or to consider the inconvenience they were making for others. Noah was too aware, too knowledgeable about the consequences of a noisy child. Andrew and Neil were familiar with the reaction in a way that was too personal for them to address.

Andrew opened the other car door and settled himself in the seat next to Noah, grinding his last cigarette out on the pavement before swinging his legs inside the vehicle. “I’ll call Bee, you drive.” He said, pulling out his cell phone to make the call. 

Neil smiled reassuringly, brushing the kid’s curls away from his face before closing the car door and walking to the front. 

“Is now a good time?” Andrew asked as soon as the doctor picked up. Neil pulled out of the school parking lot, adjusting the rearview mirror so he could watch the exchange in the backseat. Andrew listened to Betsy for a couple minutes and then nodded, “We have use of your services, but you’ll need to dig into your knowledge of child psychology for this one.”

Neil turned onto the highway, watching as Noah purposefully kept his body turned towards the car door, chin in his hand as he stared out the window. 

“It will be easier to Skype,” Andrew continued, leaning forward so he could look at the clock on the dashboard, “I’ll call you back in twenty minutes.” He flipped the phone shut.

Neil cursed as he stepped on the gas, “Don’t even think about texting Higgins.”

 

oOo

 

Neil drove to the apartment in record speed while Andrew and Noah sat in the backseat in silence. Andrew had left his hand in open invitation on the seat between them, but the kid barely glanced his way throughout the entire drive. He knew that he had crossed a line somewhere with Mr. Porter. He had lost his temper in a way that Noah had never seen before, a blinding rage that had him spitting out whatever vitriol came to the forefront of his mind. Nothing was as important in that moment than making the teacher know what had been happening right under his nose for an entire year, a lifetime of unnoticed pain rising to the surface as he thought about every single teacher that looked the other way when he was a small child. Noah deserved better than that. 

He deserved adults that listened to him when he was hurt, when he was silent and grieving. Andrew didn’t know how equipped he was to give him what he needed in that moment, blinded by the actions of the kid’s stepfather, his teacher, and the ignorance of his mother. But Bee was calm. Bee was patient and kind and she never took Andrew’s shit. She could dish it out as well as he could on his worst days, but she never crossed that invisible line. Andrew had told her about Noah the same night that he had met the kid. He didn’t know what drove him to do it, but she listened. She listened and cared and offered suggestions, and in the end he left the phone call with a clear mind and a drive to help the kid out of his situation, like he was never able to do for himself with his own abusers.

Neil pulled into the parking garage and turned off the car. Andrew hesitated before opening his door, looking over at the kid still pouting in the seat next to him. He considered saying something, an apology or a reassurance that everything between them was still okay. Instead he nodded at Neil after slamming the door shut, and Neil rounded the car to lead Noah into the apartment. 

Andrew trailed behind them, palming the pack of cigarettes in his pocket before pulling them out. He stared at the familiar label, the sight of their lighter tucked into the packaging and the four cigarettes they still had left. As Neil and Noah entered the apartment, Andrew stuck one between his lips and lit it up. He held the smoke in his lungs, the smell and taste reminding him of Neil, of the rooftop at Palmetto and long nights trading cigarettes and truths. He blew out the smoke in one long, drawn-out breath, watching as it puffed in the cool spring air of the parking garage, then plucked it out of his mouth and folded the stick in two. He dropped it on the ground, stamped it out with his boot, and then chucked the entire pack of cigarettes over the balcony railing, lighter and all.

Cigarettes meant something different to Noah. They meant pain, burns on the bottom of his heels and the outside of his thighs. They meant the silence of a small child, who was used to stifling his cries in fear of another mark, another scar that he hid beneath long sleeves and intrepid lies. They meant that his stepfather was home, the smell of smoke embedded in a La-Z-Boy and sticking to the clothes he was planning on wearing to school the next day. Noah never said anything, but Andrew could tell whenever the kid held his breath around the couple after they had gone outside for a quick smoke, could see how the kid eyed their cigarette pack as they handed it back and forth between them. 

“Andrew?”

The blonde turned around to see Neil in the doorway of their apartment, as if he had just noticed that Andrew didn’t follow them inside. “I don’t know how to find Betsy on Skype.”

Andrew rolled his eyes and followed the redhead inside the apartment, “Pull up the program. I’ll be back after I change my clothes.”

Neil raised an eyebrow in question, but turned back to the kitchen table to pull out his laptop as Andrew wandered into the bedroom. He bundled up his pants and shirt after changing into sweats and sniffed at them, the smell of smoke so strong that it was probably embedded into the fabric. He would have to talk to Neil about switching to a stronger detergent. And about the whole no-cigarette thing.

He walked back into the living room to find Neil looking confusedly at the laptop screen and no Noah in sight. Assuming that the kid had gone to his bedroom to sulk, Andrew relieved Neil of his laptop duty and helped him pull up Bee’s contact. The phone on the screen rang a couple times before Bee’s face appeared, the organized shelves behind her indicating that she hadn’t left her office yet. 

“Good afternoon, Andrew, Neil.” She said, nodding to each of them in turn, “How can I help?”

“Noah had another shutdown,” Andrew started, using the term he and Bee had gotten used to after his years at Palmetto, “worse than the one he had at his old house.” They hadn’t addressed it at the time, since Noah had bounced back after Andrew brought him his books, but he made sure to bring it up to Bee in their therapy session the next day.

Bee nodded and pulled out her notebook, pen poised as she got ready to take notes. “And the trigger?”

Andrew rolled it around in his mind for a minute, thinking back to the “conversation” he had with Mr. Porter. “Probably something I said during our fun little parent teacher conference.” At Bee’s confused look, he regaled a condensed version of what took place, making sure to mention everything he said to the teacher in as accurate detail as he could. Which, considering his penchant for memorization was pretty accurate. Neil piped in with Noah’s reactions throughout the conference, Bee nodding in approval at Neil’s quick reassurances and getting the kid out of there as quickly as he could.

“What do we know about his mother?” Bee asked, looking over her notes with a quick glance.

“Didn’t give him a cent in her will, but the kid holds her in pretty high regard.” Andrew said, trying and failing to reign in his disgust for the woman. 

Bee gave him a soft smile, “I won’t know until I talk to him, but his shutdown was most likely due to the stress of the situation and your casual mentioning of his dead mother.” 

“Not my most shining moment, I’ll admit.” Andrew said, flicking Neil in the thigh until the redhead got the hint and went to get some ice cream from the freezer. 

“Would it be alright if I talked with Noah?” Bee asked, looking to Andrew and then at Neil. At Neil’s nod, Andrew set down his pint of ice cream and went to go get the kid.

“Noah?” He knocked a few times on the door, avoiding the coloring pages Noah and Neil had printed off a couple nights ago. A rainbow-colored Dalmatian smiled up at him as he knocked again, this time softer and less commanding. “I’m coming in.” With that he opened the door slowly, revealing a small, Noah-shaped lump huddled under the comforter on the sleeping-side of his bed.

“I’ve got ice cream, a therapist, and a Neil,” He said, crossing his arms as he perched on the foot of the mattress, “one of those has got to entice you enough to leave this room.”

The lump shifted but didn’t emerge from its nest of blankets.

“How about I tack on an apology?”

Black curls peeked over the top of the comforter, followed by suspicious hazel eyes. Andrew wanted to sigh in relief, but he was currently under some pretty hardcore scrutiny at the moment. “I lost my temper when I shouldn't have.” He admitted.

Noah shrugged and refused to meet Andrew’s eyes. “It’s fine.”

Apparently the kid had been spending too much time with a certain idiot lately. “It’s not fine. You don’t have to tell us what’s wrong when something upsets you,” Andrew said, trying to keep his anger in check as best he could, “but you need to tell us when  _ we _ upset you.”

Noah nodded and sat up a little more on the bed, the comforter clutched in his hands. “It was my fault, I lied to Mr. Porter.”

“You did what you had to in order to survive,” Andrew said, “Don’t ever apologize for that. Neil and I did the same thing when we were your age.”

Noah looked up, “I like Mr. Porter. He did nothing wrong.”

Andrew nodded, “I won’t yell at Mr. Porter anymore.” At least not in front of Noah. “Do you want to talk with Bee now? She’s a good friend of mine.”

Noah sighed and nodded once, climbing out of the pile of blankets and pillows he had buried himself under. Andrew led the way out of the bedroom, Noah trailing behind him with a small blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape.

Neil looked up when they entered the living room, clearly uncomfortable from being left alone with Bee. His face lit up as soon as he saw Noah, opening his arms as the kid sped up and ran past Andrew to hug him. Neil lifted the kid onto his lap and positioned the laptop in front of them while Andrew grabbed the abandoned pint of ice cream and split it into two bowls.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Noah.” Bee said. Andrew set the bowl of ice cream and spoon in front of the kid, his own spoon hanging from his mouth as he settled in the chair next to Neil.

As they predicted, Noah was incredibly shy the moment they got him in front of a stranger. Bee was patient with him, asking about his favorite books and his favorite superheroes. Andrew sat back with his ice cream and simply relaxed under the sound of her voice, listening to things about Noah that they already knew just from being around the kid for months. As Noah got more and more animated while he talked about little league, Bee switched gears and began prodding at the kid’s nightmares. It was subtle yet straightforward, and the kid was all too happy to tell her all the ways that Andrew and Neil helped him calm down every night. She was especially interested in Andrew’s late night Harry Potter read-throughs, but Andrew cut her off as soon as she asked whether or not he did the voices.  

“Keep doing what you’re doing,” She told the couple, after Noah had hopped off of Neil’s lap to take their bowls into the kitchen, “I’d love to set up a couple of in-person sessions with Noah, if that’s alright with you.”

Neil leaned back in his chair to peek into the kitchen, “We’re waiting for Reading to call before we introduce him to more Foxes, and with Abby and Wymack up at Palmetto...”

Bee nodded in understanding, “Let me know as soon as she calls, then.”

“You’ll be the first.” Andrew said, watching as Noah walked back into the dining room. The kid glanced at Neil in passing, then walked up to Andrew and tilted his head in question. Andrew hesitated for a minute, then nodded and helped the kid climb onto his lap. He didn’t miss the way Noah subtly sniffed at his shirt collar as he got comfortable.

“Well, it was very nice to meet you, Noah. I hope I get to see you very soon.” Bee said, her smile as bright as the glass figurines behind her. 

Noah grinned, “Nice to meet you too, Bee.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Andrew, Neil,” She nodded to each of them. Andrew rested his chin on top of Noah’s mess of curls, waving goodbye with a blank face as Neil hung up on the therapist. 

 

oOo

 

Neil unclasped his helmet and slipped it off his head, squinting in the afternoon sun as sweat escaped his bandana and dripped down his forehead. His teammates scattered around the court, bleary-eyed and exhausted as they gathered cones and balls and cleaned up for the day after a grueling afternoon practice. Trevor had insisted on doing three more sets of Raven drills after taking shots on goal for an hour, barely giving Andrew time to breathe before he had to deflect nearly a hundred balls from their fastest strikers. 

The blonde was currently leaning on his large Exy racquet, glaring at Alvarez across the court as she flicked him off. Neil didn’t want to know what the two had fought about today, he just hoped that it wouldn’t follow them into their weekly coffee dates with the former Trojans. 

As it was, the team had stayed behind an extra hour in order to satisfy Trevor and Coach, and no one was happy about it. Neil stretched out his calves at half court and took a swig from his water bottle, listening as Hartman barked orders from the court doors to leave some equipment behind. “Starbursts are coming in for practice soon.” She explained, motioning for Neil to hurry it up.

Brian whistled as he hoisted a few racquets onto his shoulder, “The kids are using the big boy equipment this year?” 

“They can use our goalkeeper’s gear,” Trevor yelled from his position at the court doors, “Minyard’s the height of your average third grader after all.”

“Hmmm I give the insult a one out of twenty. What do you think, dear?” Andrew shouted in Russian, bringing the racquet down from his shoulders to point it at their captain. Trevor’s face paled almost instantly, his former confidence dwindling in the face of an angry Minyard.

“I’d give it a two for guts,” Neil said absently in the same language, stacking their racquets in the rack and tucking his helmet under his arm. Andrew wandered through the court doors a minute later, glaring at Trevor as he passed him in the lounge. 

“If you’re going to insult our captain, please do so in English,” Laila said, plopping down on the lounge couch in her sweaty gear. Hartman made a face and tried to shoo her off, but to no avail. “The rest of us need some entertainment too.”

Andrew flicked her in the forehead as he passed through the lounge. Neil shrugged at her dismay and followed Andrew into the locker room, setting his gear inside his locker before stripping down to his boxers. The rest of the team knew not to bother with the showers until Neil and Andrew were done, so they showered in mutual silence, Neil rather quickly since he didn’t want the team to wait long and Andrew rather slowly since he didn’t give a fuck. They towelled off and changed clothes, exiting the locker room with their duffle bags slung over their shoulders.

Chaos greeted them in the court lounge, little kids shouting and running about as the little league coach tried to wrangle them all in a group. Laila and Alvarez were giving out piggyback rides to the smallest children while Hartman and Trevor looked uncomfortable, eager to slip past Andrew and Neil as soon as they left the locker room. The rest of the team were still out on the court, setting up for little league practice. Andrew and Neil usually stayed to take Noah home afterwards, so they were used to the shenanigans, although they preferred to be out of sight by the time the carpools arrived.

Speaking of which, Noah was currently hiding behind his coach while the rest of his team were making good use of the lack of control the adults had over the situation. As soon as he spotted Andrew and Neil however, a huge grin spread across his face and his whole shy act dissipated. He ran over to them, weaving in and out of their teammates and crouching under arms and legs. Neil mused about the chances of the kid becoming a striker, fast and small as he was.

Andrew dug a gatorade bottle out of his duffel bag and handed it over to the kid as soon as he came over. “Don’t drink it all at once.”

Noah huffed indignantly before handing the bottle over to Neil, waiting patiently for the striker to break the seal for him. 

“Hey kid!” Brian shouted from across the room, his voice louder than the rest of the children and adults still running around the lounge, “Stop bothering Minyard.” Neil raised an eyebrow as the backliner stalked over to them, probably intending to protect Noah from the “psychotic” goalkeeper.

As one of their best backliners, Brian outweighed the rest of their team and probably had Matt beat in the height department by about ten inches. He towered over Neil and Andrew and was intimidating on his best of days, but really he was a “gigantic teddy bear,” according to Hartman. But in Noah’s eyes he was a strange man, and a giant one at that. Neil stepped closer to Andrew just as the kid clutched onto the goalkeeper’s sweatshirt, his eyes widening in fear.

“Back off, Miller.” Andrew said, stepping in front of Noah.

Brian crossed his arms, not doing himself any favors on the intimidation factor, and stared down at the kid. “Hey bud, I think it's time to get into your gear,” he motioned towards where the rest of the kids were lining up, the coaches handing out practice racquets, “I know you probably want an autograph or something, but Minyard and Josten are busy.” 

Neil leaned around his husband to look at Noah, “Is that all you wanted from us?” he took a swig of the kid’s Gatorade, “I'll just keep this then.”

Noah pouted and pulled on Neil’s arm, all traces of fear gone, “No! That was the last one in the fridge.”

Andrew rolled his eyes and plucked the Gatorade out of his hands, taking a drink before handing it down to Noah, “There's this magical place called the grocery store.” He deadpanned, “We might stop there on the way home if you listen to your coaches.”

Noah stuck out his tongue, accepting Neil’s customary hair ruffle before joining the rest of his teammates. He skirted around Brian as best he could, warily watching the backliner until he got in line for his gear. 

“Alright, so I'm confused.” Brian said, uncrossing his arms as he stared at them expectantly, “How do you know that kid?”

Neil looked over at Andrew, waiting for some sort of clue on how to respond. After they told Trevor about their marriage when they left in the middle of practice a couple months ago, the Captain told the Chargers immediately afterwards, like gossiping old ladies at the supermarket. Neil couldn’t escape the stares and the whispers following him around the locker room, all of them wondering when they had even started dating. Luckily no one gossiped to reporters, otherwise they would have all kinds of issues to sort out with the press.

Andrew glared, “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Hey now, if you guys have some secret kid that none of us know about, you owe us like fifty rounds at the bar on Saturday night.” Brian said, a mocking grin on his face since he was obviously joking. Hartman and Trevor stopped on their way to the showers, Brian’s booming voice catching their attention.

“Can you imagine Minyard with a kid? Oh my god.” Hartman said, stifling her laugh with the back of her hand. She stood slightly behind Brian, just in case Andrew decided to act on the rage now curling his fist.

“You’re just babysitting, right?” Trevor asked hesitantly, “I mean, I can kind of see you guys as husbands but I mean come on…”

Andrew and Neil wore matching blank expressions, letting their teammates come to their own conclusions. Trevor was the first to break, putting his hands on the back of his head as he took a couple steps backwards. “You’re fucking kidding me.” 

Hartman watched his retreat, looking between the couple and their Captain in shock, “Wait, seriously?” 

Brian whooped loudly, fist-pumping the air, “That’s fifty rounds on the shorties!” He yelled. 

Neil frowned, “First of all, we never agreed to that deal.” He said, watching as Andrew rolled his eyes and impatiently shoved past the backliner and his two stragglers, “Second of all, we never confirmed anything.” It was too risky, involving the team in their adoption process. They might as well tell the whole world at that point.

Hartman whistled, “Sounds like a confession to me. So what was it? Adoption? Surrogate?” She gasped dramatically, “Did our innocent child Neil knock someone up?”

Neil stared back at her in confusion and then edged his way past the gossipers so he could follow Andrew. “None of the above,” He huffed, “and I’m not going to the bar on Saturday.”

Brian raised his hands innocently, “Just one drink, Neil. I promise, your secret’s safe with us. Although I have like, a million questions.”

It wasn’t a good idea to indulge them, and the couple were both relatively new to the team. They didn’t have the same connection with the Chargers as they did with the Foxes, the same obligation that they had with their family. Neil didn’t owe Brian an explanation any more than he owed the backliner a drink, but friendships were something that he and Andrew had been working on and Brian was the most tolerable one amongst their teammates, besides the former Trojans. Neil sighed in resignation, “One drink.”

Brian’s face lit up in a grin. “Hear that, babe? I got Neil to go out with us on Saturday!” He yelled after Hartman, who was on her way into the girl’s locker room.

Hartman rolled her eyes, “It’s not the same if you blackmail him into it.” She yelled back.

Not wanting to bother with the couple’s bickering, Neil left the lounge to join Andrew in the stands. He passed Laila and Alvarez, who were on their way to gather extra cones for the kids, and gave them each high fives on his way up the stairs. 

The smell of smoke drew him to the top row of seats, a burning cigarette held loosely in Andrew’s hand as he watched the ant-sized children run around the court. “I thought we were giving those up.” Neil said, taking a seat next to the goalkeeper, their knees knocking together.

Andrew held the cigarette out and Neil plucked it from his fingers, breathing in the smoke that reminded him of home, of Andrew and the cats and long drives. The beach was long gone, a drifting memory drowned out from years of rooftops and exchanged kisses. He wasn't upset when Andrew suggested they stop smoking, and he wasn't addicted to the things, so he helped to empty their drawers and glove compartment of the cigarettes the next day. 

Andrew shrugged out of his jacket, an old one with his previous team’s logo on it, and draped it over Neil’s shoulders. It was meant to block the smell of smoke from getting into their clothes, since their last dry cleaning bill was ridiculous. “I stuck a pack in your locker a bit ago,” Andrew said, taking one last drag from the cigarette while Neil still held it in his hand, “figured we might need an emergency pack just in case.”

Neil frowned, “An emergency pack? Our teammates weren’t that annoying today.”

Instead of answering, Andrew stared at the court, watching with a blank face as the kids went through starting drills. Neil waited patiently, the cigarette held lightly up to his face while he shielded it from the wind with his other hand. Eventually Andrew shifted and pulled his cellphone from his back pocket, handing it over to Neil without looking away from the court.

The phone flipped open with a flick of his thumb, a texting conversation already pulled up on the screen. Neil read through it quietly, and after a couple seconds stubbed the cigarette out on the bench beside him. “We might as well get it out of the way.”

When Andrew didn't object, Neil pressed the call button next to the lawyer’s name and put it on speakerphone. It rang a few times before she picked up, his heart beating erratically with each drawn-out tone.

“Hello Mr. Minyard-Josten.” Reading greeted. Neil tried to ignore the false cheer in her voice.

“We got your text message,” Neil started, not bothering with pleasantries, “you said that our paperwork came back?”

Reading cleared her throat, “Yes, and I have good news and bad news.”

Neil clutched at Andrew’s sleeve, suddenly wishing he hadn’t gotten rid of the cigarette so soon. The afternoon sun peeked over the bleachers at their backs, casting black shadows over their laps and the seats ahead of them. The kids ran mini suicides across the length of the court, Noah’s black hair an identifiable mess of curls even from the top row. “Bad news first.” Andrew said, his eyes never leaving Noah as he led the rest of his teammates in their exercises, shy but determined as he was. 

“The court wants Noah to attend more sessions with the therapist,” Reading said without missing a beat, “once a week by himself and once a week with you two in attendance.”

Neil breathed out slowly, tightening his fingers around Andrew’s sleeve, “Done.” 

Andrew nodded, “We’ll be switching therapists, but it’s doable.” They had talked at length about switching Noah to Bee, since he didn’t seem to be getting along with the court-mandated therapist. They hadn’t figured out the semantics of it yet, since Palmetto was about thirteen hours away by car.

“I’ll need their contact details and an address for their practice, but it shouldn’t be a problem.” Reading said, the smile back in her voice, “Now onto the good news. You have to appear in court next week with Noah. I set the date for next Thursday, I hope that’s not a problem for you.” 

Neil looked up, his eyes catching Andrew’s as they stared at each other with matching blank expressions. He wanted to feel excited, but he needed something solid, something real to base all of his hopes on. Months of sitting on their hands, waiting for this phone call just to be shot down would have ruined the tiny family they had built for themselves. The trust that they had built with Noah would have shattered, left behind for a different foster family to potentially pick up and piece together. Andrew broke their silence first, his hand resting on Neil’s where he was gripping his old jacket. “The adoption went through.” It was a statement, not a question. A simple confirmation to sum up this drawn-out conversation that Neil just wanted to end.

“The adoption went through.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I said there would be more foxes in this chapter and i lied, but chapter 4 is like... fox-filled. Like a fox donut stuffed with foxes and glazed in fox sauce with fox sprinkles on top


	4. Chapter 4

“Andreeeewwww!”

“You’re doing fine on your own.” 

“I almost died.”

“‘Almost’ is the key word here.”

“At least act like you care.”

Andrew shrugged and pressed the A button on his controller again, bubbling his character before the mushroom could kill him. Noah was already halfway done with the level, practically unbeatable when he played as Luigi. He might as well enjoy the ride while the kid beat up the turtle boss by himself. 

“You do realize that if I die when you’re still bubbled then we have to start all over again.” Noah huffed, leaning to the right as he defeated the little minions on screen. At Andrew’s shrug, the kid reached over and plucked the controller out of the goalkeeper’s hand, shaking it so the little toadstool guy drifted closer to Luigi to pop the bubble. 

Andrew looked past the kid to the kitchen, where Neil was pulling garlic bread out of the oven. “Doesn’t matter to me.” He stood up and purposefully walked in front of the screen, ignoring Noah’s grumbles as he joined the redhead in preparing supper. 

“Done playing Mario already?” Neil asked, wiping his hands on the oven towel. 

“Noah has it.” He reached over Neil’s head to grab the box of spaghetti noodles and then leaned over to find a pot in the bottom cabinet. “When did we get a Wii again?”

“Christmas gift from Kevin. Something about practice using Wii Sports.” Neil said, shifting out of the way so Andrew wouldn’t accidentally brush against him on the way up. Andrew had been having off days lately, and Neil and Noah had been good about giving him his space while he tried to get back to feeling okay again. It was odd, having two people instead of one that were constantly aware of his moods. Sometimes he would catch himself being outwardly irritated with Noah or verbally lashing out at Neil during practice, but the two of them would just nod in understanding and leave him alone to vent. Just like Neil, Noah would always ask before touching him, sometimes laying a finger on his wrist before hugging his arm or waiting for a nod before grabbing hold of his hand. It was helpful, and Andrew was definitely starting to feel better after a week of saying “No” to both of them.

Andrew filled the pot with water and heated the stovetop, then crowded Neil up against the counter, his hands splayed on either side of the redhead’s hips. “Don’t tell me there’s a Wii Exy tournament that he wants you to participate in.”

Neil hummed, his nose skimming along the curve of Andrew’s jaw as he leaned in closer. “I’ll keep it to myself then.”  

Andrew was about to ask a very important yes or no question when the doorbell rang, an ear-piercing buzz that startled them both into jumping apart. Andrew tilted his head towards the living room, where Noah had paused his game and was watching the door expectantly. Neil got the hint and went to sit beside the kid, effectively blocking him from view of the doorway. They hadn’t had a guest since Carrie’s visit last Friday, a final check-up for the social services office before the adoption process was finally over, so they were rightfully wary. Andrew made sure the latch was secure before slowly opening the door and peeking out, only to be met with the grinning, tanned face of his cousin.  

Andrew closed the door and flipped the lock. “Shit.” He breathed out.

“Who?” Neil asked from the living room, his body braced for action as if one of his father’s minions were standing in the hallway. Instead of throwing knives and breaking down doors however, Nicky was just knocking incessantly. 

“God, Andrew let me in!” Nicky yelled. Andrew rolled his eyes when Neil finally caught on, his mouth forming a giant O while his shoulders relaxed. “The fuck, Andrew? Don’t you want to see your beautiful cousin?” Nicky continued.

The idiot wouldn’t stop banging on the door anytime soon, so Andrew tilted his head in question at the redhead, who merely shrugged. “It’s your fault if he faints from shock.” Andrew said, looking pointedly at the kid currently hiding behind Neil. 

While Noah looked back at Andrew in confusion, the blonde turned around and opened the door mid-knock. “What do you want?”

Nicky shouldered his way into the apartment before Andrew could change his mind, followed by several suitcases and shopping bags. “Long time no see, you look great, how’s the husband?” His cousin said cheekily, setting his bags by the entryway and opening his arms in an attempt at a hug. 

Andrew folded his own arms across his chest in clear dismissal, “Why aren’t you in Germany where you belong?”

“For Abby’s thing, obviously.” Nicky said, leaning around the blonde to wave at Neil. “Erik couldn’t come because of work, and the plane tickets were so much cheaper this week than they were next week so I came early and decided to surprise my favorite couple! We can drive there together next weekend, right? Oh, and I’m commandeering your guest room for the time being, hope you don’t mind.” 

Neil looked just as confused as Andrew did, so Andrew held up a hand to stop Nicky’s train of thought. “What are you talking about?”

“Abby’s get-together thing.” Nicky said. At Andrew’s blank look, he huffed in irritation. “The Foxes get-together? For Labor Day? Next week?” He looked back and forth between Neil and Andrew, expecting some sort of recognition. “There was a Facebook invite.”

“You’re under the delusion that we’re both on Facebook.” Andrew deadpanned.

“But you are? You guys made accounts two weeks ago. Erik and I went to the bars to celebrate.” Nicky furrowed his brows in confusion, “Unless those were fake accounts. But they had actual pictures of you two, not just Exy shots.”

Andrew frowned and turned to the living room, “You made us Facebook accounts?”

Noah poked his head out from behind Neil and held up both his hands innocently. “In my defense, I thought I made them private?”

“Why would you make accounts for us?” Neil asked, crossing his arms in imitation of an upset parent.

“My friends at school wanted me to get one, so I made one, and then Facebook asked me to list out my parents and well, one thing led to another?”

“Who…?” Nicky finally spoke up, pointing a finger at Noah. The kid gave him a small wave, but remained hidden behind Neil for the most part, suddenly all shy again after facing someone new.

“One thing at a time.” Andrew said, holding up a hand to stop Nicky’s no doubt incessant questions. “Abby’s thing, explain.”

Nicky hesitated on the topic change, but responded rather quickly for someone who wanted answers right then and there. “It’s next week. Abby and Coach offered to house us for a couple days, plus the court will be empty because of the holiday. It’ll be like a family reunion, with food and lawn games and stuff. Everyone else already RSVP'd, so we assumed you guys would come too.”

“You assumed wrong. Next.” Andrew said, turning towards the living room and looking at Noah expectantly. “We’re deleting the Facebook accounts.” At Noah’s crestfallen look he amended, “We’ll look at the privacy settings first and probably make new accounts under different names.”

Noah and Neil seemed happy with the compromise, so Andrew turned back to Nicky to address the biggest elephant in the room. “Nicky, meet Noah. Congratulations, you have another first cousin, once removed.” Andrew looked anything but excited at the prospect.

“What?” Nicky said eloquently, staring at the kid in disbelief.

Neil stood up and brushed invisible dust off his pants. “It’ll take awhile for that to settle in, so I’m going to continue supper.” Andrew nodded as the redhead walked past him into the kitchen, continuing where Andrew left off with the spaghetti.

“Ok so... what?” Nicky repeated, “This is…?” he gestured at Noah, “Yours? This is yours?”

Andrew shrugged, “I guess.” He was already bored with the conversation, wanting to help Neil with supper and then Noah with his weekend homework. Unfortunately he didn’t feel comfortable leaving the kid alone with his shell-shocked cousin, so he stayed rooted to the spot in between Nicky and Noah while the former tried to figure out the secrets of the universe or something.

“Who? What? When?” Nicky rambled.

“Where? Why? How?” Noah finished for him, “I think you broke him, Andrew.”

Andrew shrugged, “Pretty sure he came like that.”

“Okay, so wait.” Nicky held up a hand to stop their banter and then stepped forward into the living room, crouching down so he could get a better look at the kid. “He’s got Neil’s curls, Andrew’s eyes… but both of their sass… Did you guys use a turkey baster?” 

Andrew cuffed him on the back of the head and ignored Nicky’s resulting yelp of pain. “How long do you think we’ve been hiding him for? Since college?”

“Well I don’t know, you guys spent an awful lot of time alone in the room so --”

“And that’s my cue to help in the kitchen.” Noah interrupted loudly, turning off the Wii and leaving the room in a hurry.  

Andrew felt the urge to kick his cousin over where he crouched, but Nicky stood up before he got the opportunity. “Okay but seriously, you’re just babysitting, right? I don’t know what kind of mom would leave her kid with you guys but…” He shrugged, like that was the end of his sentence.

Staring back at him blankly, Andrew waited for the idiot to get a clue. He knew how absurd the situation was, how it looked to other people, and he really shouldn’t expect anything other than absolute shock, but he and Neil really didn’t know how to break it to the foxes that Noah was part of the family now. It was hard enough getting them used to the idea of them as a serious couple, having to go so far as to show Allison and Aaron the marriage certificate just to prove it. It even took Matt a couple years to wear out the “it’s just for taxes!” jokes. Not wanting to deal with the dramatics anymore, Andrew decided to just rip off the bandaid. “We adopted him a couple weeks ago.” 

Nicky laughed, “Okay, sure, I’ll play along.” Andrew rolled his eyes as his cousin barelled on, stopping to laugh every now and then in between jabs. “Did I miss the baby shower? Oh my god, did you adopt him just so you could get free kids meals? Those little Happy Meals are so worth the eighteen or so years it takes a raise a child.” 

It was annoying, and beyond childish for someone in their mid-thirties working a full time job and living in Germany with their husband. Andrew was perfectly happy waiting out Nicky’s no doubt endless list of stupid jokes, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently while he stood across the living room from the laughing idiot. When he looked into the kitchen however, he was met with two very angry family members. Noah sat perched on the countertop, in the process of measuring out noodles while Neil stirred tomato sauce on the stovetop. The kid was staring at Nicky in disbelief, looking back and forth between him and Andrew as if waiting for an epic showdown, while Neil’s shoulders were tensing up with each jab. 

Nicky was in the middle of lecturing Andrew about the ridiculousness of gender reveal cakes when Andrew grabbed hold of his shirt collar and dragged his blithering idiot of a cousin closer, making sure to keep the violent action at a minimum since Noah was watching. When he had Nicky’s full, undivided attention, he repeated himself with a blank voice, “We adopted him a couple weeks ago.”

When understanding finally dawn on Nicky’s face, Andrew let go and took a couple steps backwards, rubbing his hands on his jeans to rid himself of the feeling of Nicky’s skin touching his. Maybe he wasn’t ready for casual contact just yet, not with everyone at least, not after waking up every night for the past week with the feeling of hands in places they weren’t supposed to be.

“You’re fucking with me, you’re…” Nicky stuttered out, “You’re serious. You seriously adopted a kid.”

“Do the Foxes have rankings, because I definitely like Uncle Matt better.” Noah piped up from the kitchen, throwing what looked like a pound of spaghetti noodles into the nearest pot of boiling water. 

Neil hummed and ruffled Noah’s mop of curls, “You and me both, kid.”

“ _ Uncle Matt? _ ” Nicky gaped, “Matt knows about him?”

“So do Bee, Dan, Robin, and Renee, although Matt definitely skypes with him more.” Andrew said, tilting his head in thought while he listed the people off on his right hand.

“I’m going to need a full explanation,” Nicky said, “without the bullshit.”

Andrew shrugged innocently, stepping around his cousin to help Neil finish supper, “Later. After the kid’s bedtime.” 

Nicky and Noah pouted in unison as the kid hopped off the counter to help set the table, avoiding Nicky as he sidestepped over to the dining room. Andrew joined him in unstacking plates and setting out silverware, grudgingly setting an extra place for Nicky. It was a normal occurrence for his cousin to show up out of the blue, sometimes staying for days or weeks whenever he needed to visit the states for something, and Andrew and Neil were usually busy with practice so they didn’t care as much. Years of living with Nicky and Kevin in close quarters at the dorms had prepared them for unannounced sleepovers, but over the months they had established a routine that involved Noah, bedtimes, school schedules, and little league. It would be odd reworking their days to accommodate a guest, even if it was just for a week. “Don’t expect us to entertain you while you’re here.” Andrew said, sitting down heavily in his chair at the table.

“I was planning on visiting Renee, since she lives pretty close.” Nicky said, taking the seat across from Noah, “You guys are planning on coming to Labor Day though, right? I mean…” he gestured at the kid, who was currently piling a mini mountain of spaghetti on his plate, “You gotta introduce him to the rest of the foxes sometime.” 

Neil made a point of snatching the bowl of noodles away from Noah before the kid could overload his plate. “We’ll talk about it. No promises, though.” He glanced over at Andrew, the small uptick of his eyebrow telling more than he felt comfortable saying at the dinner table. They would discuss it later, at length, in private. 

Dinner was awkward but bearable. Nicky kept his questions to a minimum, satisfied that he would get answers later that night, but he wouldn’t stop staring at the kid. Noah went on a tangent about the book series he was reading, finally warming up to having a stranger in their midst. Andrew listened to him attentively while Neil occasionally asked questions about the characters and plotline. It seemed like a daily routine for them at this point, even though they both knew everything they could possibly know about the kid’s books. Nicky nodded along, but didn’t add anything to the conversation beyond asking the kid how old he was.

Nicky eventually warmed up to Noah after several rounds of Mario Kart, the kid, of course, kicking his ass with a Princess Peach custom vehicle. Noah grumbled when Neil mentioned that it was bedtime, going so far as to melt off the couch and pout on the ground before Andrew promised to read him the next chapter of The Goblet of Fire if he got into bed. Nicky laughed as if he was joking, but sobered up as soon as Andrew grabbed the book from the bookshelf and followed Noah to his bedroom. 

He came back an hour later to Neil laying across their bed with headphones in, apparently ignoring Nicky as he perched on the bedside table, a petulant frown on his face. Andrew poked the back of Neil’s head to get his attention and then joined him on the bed, making sure to take up a majority of the mattress so Nicky wouldn’t be tempted to join them.

“Am I going to get my explanation now?” Nicky huffed, crossing his arms in irritation.

Andrew and Neil sported matching glares, but it was Neil who eventually gave in and started telling the story from the beginning. It took several hours to get through the gist of it, and Nicky was definitely not taking it as easily as Matt did. He kept interrupting with questions of his own, wanting to know annoying details like what the kid’s mother was like or why none of the kid’s relatives stepped forward after the funeral. 

“Not everyone is as eager to get involved as you.” Andrew said, ignoring the similarities of Noah’s situation with his and Aaron’s experience with Tilda. Nicky remained quiet throughout the rest of the conversation, his expression cowed as Neil regaled the court case and social services meetings. 

He nodded decisively when the explanation was finished, his face full of emotions that Andrew would be more than happy to ignore completely. He left the room before his cousin could explode on him, grabbing a glass of water and peeking into Noah’s room before rejoining them in the bedroom. Neil glared at him for that one, but Andrew helped him get out of Nicky’s hug before he died from suffocation, so they were even.

Nicky was staying at their apartment for the week, but said he would stay with Renee for the first couple of days. Andrew, Neil, and Noah went back to their normal routine of school and practice while the days passed by at a turtle’s pace. The Chargers were wrapping up summer practice, and much to the annoyance of Neil, the players were granted a few weeks of vacation before the season started. Andrew cuffed him on the back of the head for complaining and called him “Kevin” the rest of the day until even he got annoyed. 

Nicky came back from Renee’s house more determined than ever to get them to go to Palmetto for Labor Day, showing them pictures of Renee’s family and promising Andrew that the goalkeeper would make her special cake if he came. Neil wanted to go, that was clear enough to Andrew, but they were hesitant to deal with the backlash of multiple Foxes finding out about Noah at once. It would be chaotic, and they were happy in their small bubble of “the less people who know, the better” ideal.    

Thursday night saw Andrew in bed with a book, a rare moment of peace during the longest week of his life. He rented a few law books from the library, determined to finish the section before the Fall started and life became hectic with Little League, school activities, and weekend games across the country. Renee already agreed to babysit the kid when they had away games, offering before Andrew had the chance to bring it up. Noah seemed to get along with her from their Skype dates, and he said that he was good with babies, so it was a load off of his back to know that they had a plan. 

His bedroom door creaked open, a tuft of curls and bright hazel eyes peeking through in silent question. At Andrew’s nod, Noah walked in and closed the door behind him, clambering onto the bed and plopping face-first onto Andrew’s stomach. The blonde grunted at the impact and lightly tugged at the kid's curls in retaliation. “Did you finish your homework?”

Noah scrunched his nose and absentmindedly plucked at the hem of his sweatshirt. “I still have some math left, but Mr. Porter said that we would have study hall tomorrow so I'll get it done then.”

Andrew checked his watch, resting his book on Noah’s forehead while he did so. “It's way past your bedtime. Did you stay up playing video games with Nicky again?”

Noah shrugged, which was as good as a confession. He was on vacation next week due to the holiday, so his teachers were piling on ridiculous amounts of homework to be done by the following school week. Neil and Andrew had been making him get it done ahead of time, and Noah surprisingly went along with it for the most part. “What’s the junkie up to?” Andrew asked, picking up his book and turning the page.

“Night run.” Noah answered. He turned his head so his cheek rested on Andrew’s stomach, eyelashes fluttering closed. Heat emanated from the kid’s forehead, to the point where Andrew could feel it from beneath two layers of shirts. 

He set his book aside and tapped Noah on the shoulder with his pointer finger. “Can I check your temperature?” At Noah’s shrug, he laid his palm on the kid’s forehead and compared it with his own. He was definitely running hotter than he should be. “How are you feeling?” 

“My stomach’s a little upset, but I ate a lot of ice cream after supper.” Noah said, not bothering to open his eyes while he answered.

Andrew didn’t have a lot of experience with sick children, but he figured some Acetaminophen and a good night’s rest might be the best solution. He nudged Noah until the kid got the message and melted off the bed, and then directed him to the kitchen with a light hold on the kid’s shoulder. He found the tylenol tucked away above the fridge, cursing the fact that Nicky was already in bed when he had to climb onto the counter to reach it. Noah hid a smirk behind his glass of water. 

Andrew handed him two pills and then watched as the kid downed them with water, trying to ignore the sensation of familiarity that overtook him from his days of pillpopping under court order. 

Neil came back after Noah fell asleep, not even requiring another chapter of Harry Potter before he was nodding off. “Are they both asleep?” Neil asked, toeing off his running shoes at the door and batting at the cats while they wound themselves in between his legs. 

“Noah is. Nicky might need another bedtime story and a kiss goodnight.” Andrew deadpanned, grabbing a pint of ice cream from the fridge and cracking it open, spoon dangling from his lips.  

Neil smirked, “I thought it was your turn to tuck him in tonight, not mine.” He reached out and plucked the spoon from Andrew’s mouth, crowding him against the counter but not touching just yet.

Andrew glared at the theft, but made no move to stop the redhead from taking a bite of his ice cream. It had been a long time since it was just the two of them, and Noah wasn’t waking up anytime soon judging by how fast he crashed. Andrew decided to take advantage of their alone time, reaching up to squeeze Neil’s hips while he traced the edge of his sharp jaw with his lips, the scent of sweat and chocolate clouding his senses. “You stink.” He said, using his grip on Neil’s hips to push the redhead away from him. 

Neil pouted, but sobered up quickly when Andrew took the pint of ice cream away from him and put it back into the freezer. “Shower?” Neil asked, a yes or no question hiding in the tilt of his head and the heated look in his bright blue eyes. 

“Shower.” Andrew answered, throwing the spoon in the sink as he led the way to the bathroom.

 

oOo

 

The sound of multiple things crashing to the floor at once woke Andrew up from a light sleep, his mind searching for the source but not finding it in the darkness of their bedroom. His fist had struck out the moment he bolted awake, luckily hitting the wall next to him in lieu of his sleeping husband. Neil remained asleep, one hand fisted in the comforter while his other was tucked underneath the pillow. Some habits were hard to kill, and their sleeping minds laid in wait for a threat day in and day out. They were both light sleepers, but Andrew moreso since Neil found comfort by having another body sleeping next to him. Andrew had spent many nights on the couch after they started sharing a bed, but he eventually got used to the redhead’s presence. The identifiable scars helped, and so did the amount of space Neil always made sure to give him before drifting off to sleep.

He climbed over Neil as carefully as he could, bracing his weight on his elbows before swinging his legs over the bed in one swift move. The cats were nowhere to be seen, but sometimes they preferred to sleep in the cat tower in Noah’s room, so it wasn’t really concerning. He threw on a long sleeved shirt and slipped a knife under his sleeve from the bedside drawer, then walked into the living room as quietly as he could. Nicky might have decided to raid their cupboards for a late night snack, but he wasn’t taking any chances. The lights were all off, save for the nightlights they had littered around the apartment, and the front door was securely shut with the lock still in place. The windows were closed, a small dusting of cat hair on the sill an indication that no one had slipped into their apartment from the third story either. 

While he was busy inspecting the fire escape, a small stream of light caught his attention from under the bathroom door. King and Sir sat in front of the door, both hunched over with their butts in the air and their paws swiping at the carpet. They looked as if someone had locked them out of the bathroom, and at the sound of a choked-off sob Andrew knew exactly who it was. 

“Noah?” He knocked softly on the bathroom door, throwing the knife off to the side while he did so. There was no response, so Andrew knocked again and kicked the cats off to the side, both of them batting at his socked feet with their claws at the treatment. “Can I come in?”

Muffled sniffles filtered through the wooden door. Andrew sighed and knocked once more, “I’m coming in.” He announced, kicking gently at the cats one more time before slipping inside. The smell of vomit immediately attacked his nose, and he fought his gag reflex as he took in the scene inside the bathroom.

Noah was curled up in the niche between the bathtub and the toilet, his pajamas wet with what could only be puke. The foul remnants were all over the floor along with several bottles and towels that used to sit on the bathroom counter, most likely knocked to the floor in the kid’s haste to get to the toilet. Noah had both of his hands clenched over his mouth, trying to keep quiet or to keep from puking again Andrew could only guess. His eyes were glassed over and tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he looked at Andrew like he was someone to be feared. 

Andrew held up both his hands and bent down, keeping his body in the doorway while also trying to look small and unintimidating. “You’re okay, Noah,” He said, his face carefully blank. His first step was to calm the kid down since he immediately saw Andrew as a threat, and judging by the redness creeping up his neck he was probably starting to sport a pretty big fever. “It’s Andrew.” 

Noah blinked a couple times, lowering his shaking hands to clutch the toilet seat after a few seconds. “I know,” he shrugged his shoulder and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his pajamas, his voice croaky like, well, someone who had been puking, “I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“Don’t be.” Andrew said firmly, “How long have you been up?”

“A couple hours?” He replied, his voice going up at the end like a question. “I might have gotten puke all over Uncle Nicky’s suitcase.”

“It was the fool’s fault for leaving it out in the hallway like that.”  

Noah winced, “I might have aimed for it. King was in the way.”

Andrew nodded, “Wise choice.” As if summoned, the cats slipped past the blonde’s feet and sauntered over to Noah. The kid ran a hand through the fur on their backs, making sure to pet all the way to the end of Sir’s tail the way he liked it before dropping his arms back to his sides as if they were dead weights. Andrew stepped into the bathroom and squatted in front of him. “So what do you think? Food poisoning?”

The kid was starting to get paler as he leaned over to rest his forehead on the porcelain toilet seat. “Who knows. I feel like shit though.”

Andrew hummed, “Don’t swear around Nicky, I’ll never hear the end of it.” He would probably get a lecture on ‘appropriate etiquette around kids’ or some shit like that. “Do you want me to get Neil?” 

Noah thought about it for a minute, his eyes drooping closed before nodding a little. Andrew stood back up, and didn’t bother to close the door after him when he left for the bedroom. The cats were already in the bathroom and they weren’t leaving Noah’s side anytime soon. He flicked on the lights on his way through the living room, since everyone in the house besides Nicky would be up anyways.

Neil grumbled and scrunched his eyebrows when Andrew turned on the light in their bedroom, his arm coming up to block the light from his eyes. “Andrew?” He asked groggily.  

Andrew tossed him a shirt that was hanging on the back of the desk chair. “Get dressed, it’s Noah.”

Neil sat upright and immediately started to pull on the shirt that was tossed at his face, his eyes alert and searching. “What’s wrong?” 

Leaning nonchalantly up against the door frame, Andrew shrugged. “Probably food poisoning. Or the stomach flu.”

“Fever?” Neil asked, his shoulders noticeably relaxing. He climbed out of bed as Andrew nodded and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. At Andrew’s glance at the hamper, Neil grabbed another pair and threw it at the goalkeeper. 

After Andrew pulled his sweatpants on, the two of them walked back to the bathroom, the cats greeting them by pressing their bodies up against their calves. Neil took one look at Noah and squatted down in front of him. “Hey Noah, how’s it going?” He asked softly. 

As Noah downplayed how he was feeling, Andrew went to the kid’s bedroom to assess the damage. Noah had managed to make it out to the hallway before losing his lunch in Nicky’s suitcase, judging by his ruffled yet puke-free bed. Andrew opened his dresser to find new pajamas, pulling out an old sweatshirt and Mario pajama bottoms and folding them in his arms to take back to the bathroom. 

“What the fuck?” He heard from down the hall. He turned around to find his cousin looking down warily at his ruined suitcase, dressed in boxer shorts and standing halfway out the guest bedroom door.  

“You left it out in the hallway.” Andrew shrugged, opening the bathroom door so he could hand Neil the clean clothes.

“What are you doing up?” Neil asked. He peered around Andrew’s legs as Nicky approached the bathroom, rubbing tiredly at his eyes.

“I was skyping Erik.” Nicky said, “What the fu-heck is going on?” He corrected his language as soon as he saw Noah, looking worse by the minute as he rested his forehead on the toilet seat.

“Noah’s sick.” Neil said, nudging Noah’s foot until the kid got the message and adjusted how he was sitting. Noah’s arms were dead weights, but he managed to move them enough to get his shirt halfway off. Neil scrunched his nose at the smell, but helped guide the kid’s hands through the sleeves and pulled it off his head, his black curls sticking to his forehead with sweat. Nicky gasped, most likely at the sight of the scars littered across Noah’s chest, tiny remnants of the time spent with his stepfather. Andrew shot him a look before Neil pulled the kid’s sweatpants off, trying to keep the backliner from making too big of a fuss when he saw the burns.

Nicky looked back and forth between Noah and Andrew, his eyes full of pity but at least he didn’t bother to say anything. Seemed like his cousin had learned some etiquette over the years, after all. 

Noah looked even worse after Neil pulled his arms through the new sweatshirt, and with little to no warning launched himself at the toilet and emptied his stomach again. Nicky made a sound like a wounded animal in the back of his throat, most likely in sympathy. The kid dry heaved after a full minute and then sobs racked through his small frame. Neil rubbed his back in circular motions until all they could hear was soft crying and the occasional plea. “ _ Daddy, it hurts _ ,” He whined, the words muffled by his previously clean sweater sleeve as he wiped his nose and mouth with it.  

Neil looked up at Andrew, his hand still rubbing Noah’s back as the kid gasped for air. Andrew shrugged, “Don’t look at me.” If one of them was going to be ‘daddy’ it was definitely going to be Neil. The redhead rolled his eyes and awkwardly tried to calm the kid down with shushing noises. 

Andrew crouched between the two of them and his cousin, the latter staring at the scene with his mouth hanging open. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and call Abby.” Andrew suggested, flicking a hand in the vague direction of the hallway. 

Nicky opened and closed his mouth, as if searching for something to say, and then settled on, “Okay, yeah, I’ll do that…” before walking backwards out of the bathroom.  

By the time Nicky returned to the bathroom, Neil and Andrew had gathered some extra clothes, blankets, and pillows and placed them around the room. Neither one of them had ever gotten sick before, since they were on strict diets and the threat of the Moriyama’s hanging over their heads was enough motivation for them to take care of their bodies. They had enough knowledge from Kevin's hangovers to understand the gist of it, but the reassurance of Abby’s advice helped ease the tension in the room little by little. 

“Keep them hydrated,” Abby's voice filtered through the tinny speakers on Nicky's smartphone. She sounded tired, her words accented with the occasional yawn as Nicky held the smartphone out so they could all hear her in the small bathroom. “How long have they been feeling sick?”

Everyone looked to Noah for an answer, but it was Andrew who spoke up. “Since nine o’clock this evening. It’s three in the morning here.” He tacked on for Abby’s sake, who was currently in a different timezone.

“Any fever, diarrhea, cramps?”

Andrew shrugged and then nudged Noah’s knee, prompting the kid to speak up. He was currently hunched over next to the toilet, his sweaty hair in disarray from Neil running his hand through it repeatedly. “All three?” He offered meekly.

“Is that a child? Nicky, why are you with a sick child?” Abby asked, her voice sounding more alert now. 

Nicky winced but didn’t offer any explanation. Andrew glanced at Neil, who was staring at the smartphone like it might bite him, and then made a decision. “We’ll explain things later, before Monday. Right now we need your expertise more than your commentary.”

Abby huffed, “I’ll hold you to that, Andrew, don’t think I won’t.” He really didn’t doubt it. Her voice was softer and more at ease as she turned her attention to Noah, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Noah.” The kid answered. He seemed a little uncomfortable with the pet name, but didn’t feel the need to correct her. Andrew and Neil had never addressed him with anything other than his name, or “kid”, preferring to avoid anything that might dredge up memories about his stepfather or his mother. In this case, having an outsider interact with him might be a learning experience for them both.

“Hi Noah, I’m Abby, a nurse for the Palmetto Foxes. Since Andrew’s there with you, I’m assuming Neil’s there too, right?” She asked. Noah hummed in affirmation, too tired out from his last round of puking to offer much information. 

“Hi Abby,” Neil said, leaning forward so the speaker could pick up his voice, “thanks for picking up. I know it’s late.”

“I learned to set the most annoying ringtone for you lot a long time ago. God knows what kind of messes you’ll get yourselves into when we’re not there to keep you in check.” Andrew rolled his eyes while Nicky chuckled. Noah cracked a small smile, but it was gone in a blink.

“Now, Noah sweetie, do you have a headache?” Abby asked, finally getting down to business. Noah answered her questions with one word answers, his eyes drooping closed the longer they conversed back and forth. Neil rubbed small circles on Noah’s back while Andrew and Nicky leaned up against the tub, listening to the casual interaction between nurse and patient.  

When Abby had finally dwindled the symptoms down to the stomach flu, Noah’s eyes flew open in alarm and he leaned over the toilet again. When he finally emptied his stomach and spat one last time into the toilet, he sat back and leaned into Andrew’s chest instead of Neil’s. The blonde had migrated closer the moment the kid had started sobbing, some sort of weird paternal instinct that he would have to look into more later, when he had time to panic about it. The kid wiped tears and snot all over the front of his t-shirt, clutching at his sleeves as sobs racked through his small frame. Andrew sat still as a statue as the kid used him as a security blanket of sorts, and made no move to pat his back or shush him like Neil had done earlier.

Noah didn’t seem to expect anything from him either, simply content to snuggle closer into his lap and hide away from everyone else in the bathroom while he gained control over himself. Andrew hooked his chin over the kid’s shoulder as Noah’s arms looped around his neck, a semblance of the time Neil had held him when they picked him up from that library many months ago, a scarred and broken child in need of someone who could put him back together again after years of abuse. 

Andrew blinked in confusion, “What do you want?” 

“I want to sleep.” Noah answered. That was manageable, at least.

“Any suggestions on how to get a puking nine year old to bed?” Neil asked the phone, standing up and stretching out the kinks in his back.

“Give him a glass of water and a makeshift bedpan, a large popcorn bowl will work.” Abby said, pausing to yawn for a second, “Lay him down on his left, it’ll help with the nausea.”

Andrew squeezed the kid’s arm where it wrapped around his neck, “Think you’re all puked out for the time being?” Noah nodded, his nose scrunching up where it rested against the blonde’s shirt collar. 

“If you puke on me, you’re on laundry duty for the rest of the week.” Andrew said gruffly, wrapping his arms underneath Noah’s butt before he stood up. The kid was still too light for his age, but he was easier to carry awake than he was asleep, Andrew discovered. His legs wrapped around Andrew’s waist like it was second nature, the majority of his weight settling at the blonde’s hips as he pushed past a gaping Nicky.

Neil and Nicky gathered supplies to clean the bathroom while Andrew carried the kid to bed, tucking him in haphazardly before all but running to the kitchen to grab a bowl and glass of water. He passed an upset Nicky on his way back to the kid’s bedroom, mourning the loss of his suitcase and the clothes it carried. 

Neil was perched on the side of Noah’s bed, running a hand through the kid’s curls in comfort when Andrew joined them. They agreed to check on him every other hour, and made sure to tell Noah that their bedroom door would be open all night. It would be challenging for the couple, used to the locked doors and silence that accompanied a safe night, but Noah needed a way to get to them in case something went wrong. As it was, the couple buckled down for a long, sleepless night.

Andrew was on the verge of committing murder the next morning, the bags under his eyes more pronounced as he stared at his unrecognizable reflection in the mirror. They were getting lazy, too used to early nights with routines and bedtime stories and morning pancakes. There was no more late night bus rides back from games with the Foxes, no more restless nights spent on rooftops with cigarettes burned past the filter, and no more nights spent holding his breath under covers, waiting for the doorknob to his bedroom to turn ominously in the early hours of the morning. It was a comfort as much as it was an irritation, a niggling sensation constantly in the back of his mind reminding him that the peace wouldn’t last forever.  

Neil was in the shower, washing off Noah’s latest accident while Andrew brushed his teeth. They owed Abby and Wymack an explanation about Noah’s presence in their home, about their involvement in the kid’s life.  _ Before Monday _ he had said. There was no escaping Labor Day at this point, a fact that he and Neil knew the moment Nicky budged his way through their front door. 

Fuck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's Nicky and Abby!  
> I was going to fit Labor Day into this chapter, but I figured you guys have waited enough for this to come out ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> But good news! I graduated! I finished my wedding invitations! I'm a bridesmaid this weekend!
> 
> Next chapter: Labor Day, kids, Foxes, baby Foxes, children, s'mores, INFANTS


	5. Chapter 5

The sound of a car door slamming shut jarred Andrew from a fitful sleep, the significant lack of movement underneath him coupled with the absence of bright, fluorescent gas station lights indicated that they must have made it to Abby’s house without any other stops. He rubbed at his jaw where he laid it against the car window, his joints sore and stiff as he stretched out every kink. He blinked at the sudden brightness, taking in his surroundings with detached interest. The suburban street outside the windshield was all at once foreign and familiar, a remnant of every summer they had spent parking in the driveway and taking early morning runs on the perfectly landscaped sidewalks. Abby’s neighborhood was like a breath of fresh nostalgia from their days at Palmetto State, but in the dark hours of the morning it seemed like uncharted territory.

The overhead light turned on the moment Neil left the cab, only for him to reappear on the other side of the car to open the passenger side door. Noah was fast asleep, curled up impossibly small on the faux leather seat with the seatbelt tangled around his body. He had a pretty significant recovery from his bout of stomach flu on Thursday but he was still lethargic. That, coupled with the two hour flight and an hour in a rental car, must have lulled the kid to sleep in an exhaustive haze. Nicky was in a similar state, but Andrew ignored his peaceful, drooling face in favor of throwing an empty soda bottle at him. His cousin floundered at suddenly being woken up, glaring at Andrew through bleary eyes as he pulled on his shoes.

Andrew opened his own car door to join Neil, who was currently attempting to remove the seatbelt from around Noah’s body without waking the kid up. “He’s going to wake up the minute we lift him out,” Andrew said, not bothering to lower his voice.

Neil sighed, giving in and rousing the kid awake by shaking his shoulder. Noah flinched away from his grasp the moment Neil touched him, curling up even further into the leather seat. Neil shared a look with Andrew, a moment of understanding passing between them. “Noah.” Andrew said, his voice softer now as he repeated the kid’s name until hazel eyes peeked out from beneath a hoodie. “It’s just Andrew and Neil. You’re in the car.”

Noah took a minute to gather himself, blinking blearily up at the two of them before sighing loudly. Whether it was in relief or in annoyance at himself, Andrew could only guess. “Are we there yet?” He asked. Nicky laughed as he hoisted himself out of the car, gathering the travel bags that littered the floor of the backseat.

Neil smiled. It was soft and private, an expression that was usually reserved for small moments alone with Andrew. Andrew was surprised to find that he didn’t mind sharing it. “Yep, we’re here.”

Noah nodded and sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes with a fisted hand. Andrew watched as Neil hesitantly left the two of them to help Nicky with the bags in the trunk, his eyes lingering on the kid’s face in worry before rounding the car. Andrew leaned into the cab and helped Noah untangle himself from the seatbelt, being careful not to touch him. “I called ahead, and only Abby will be awake. Can you handle that?”

Noah hummed in affirmation while he clumsily swung his Avenger’s backpack on. Andrew held the door open for him, watching in amusement as the kid found his feet after hours of sleeping in a moving vehicle. They joined Nicky and Neil on their way up the lawn to the front door, Noah trailing behind Andrew like a needy duckling. Abby said to just let themselves in, since most of the house was asleep anyways. It was Saturday, so most of the Foxes hadn’t gotten there yet save for Renee and Allison. Matt, Dan, and the twins lived close enough that they would probably just spend their nights at home.

Neil opened the door, careful to avoid a pot of flowers with the duffel bag hanging off of his hips as he led the way inside the dark house. The kitchen light was on, a beacon in an otherwise eerie atmosphere. After dropping their bags at the entrance, the group followed the light to find Abby sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of coffee. She must have heard them come in, since she was already halfway standing up and fighting with her robe when they entered the kitchen. “It’s been so long!” She said in a hushed voice, enveloping Nicky in a hug.

His cousin seemed to revel in it, holding the nurse close in a crushing embrace. Abby turned towards Neil and did the same, the redhead awkwardly patting her back in a semblance of affection. He was working on it.

Instead of hugging Andrew, she merely patted him on the arm and gave him a motherly smile. It widened as soon as she saw Andrew’s little hanger-on, the kid clutching at Andrew’s sweatshirt in a death grip. “This must be Noah,” Abby said, leaning down so she was at the kid’s level.

Andrew placed a hand over Noah’s, not removing it from his shirt but simply holding it there. It was okay to hide around strangers, but this one was safe. He tried to convey that through squeezing the kid’s hand with a slight pressure. Noah glanced up at Andrew, and then matched Abby’s smile with a small one of his own. “Hi Abby,” He said, giving a little wave.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Nicky gushed. Noah stuck his tongue out at the backliner in retaliation.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Abby asked, ignoring Nicky’s jab in favor of talking to Noah. The last time she had talked to him was on Thursday, when the kid was puking his guts out. Neil called Abby the next day, a long-worn explanation at the tip of his tongue. She was, by far, the easiest one to tell right behind Renee, accepting Noah like he had always been a part of the family with little to no questions. Neil asked her to tell Wymack, attempting to avoid the awkward conversation with as many foxes as he could, and she heartily agreed.

“I’m fine.” Noah answered. Abby’s face fell, her brow upticking as she glanced over at Neil.

He held his hands up innocently. “I definitely didn’t teach him that.”

“He stayed in bed until Friday night,” Andrew said, not intending to jump to the kid’s rescue but doing it all the same. “His temperature was good this morning, so we decided it wouldn’t make a difference if he was sleeping at home or on a plane.”

Abby nodded, “We should get you to bed then, shouldn’t we?” Noah nodded in agreement, despite the fact that he had spent the last two days sleeping practically nonstop. Abby straightened up, but seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, “We weren’t expecting everybody at once, so we only have two beds made up.”

“Ah, well, I can sleep on the couch…” Nicky offered, gesturing towards the living room.

“I’ll take the couch.” Andrew interrupted. Neil tilted his head in question, a quiet exchange of _are you sure?_ And _yes, it’ll be fine_ taking place between them. He didn’t know how the kid would react to sleeping in a wide open space, similar to the basement at his stepfather’s house. It would be easier for him to sleep in his and Neil’s room. Noah seemed oblivious, his eyes blinking closed the longer they stood there.

Abby nodded and busied herself with herding Neil, Nicky, and Noah towards their rooms, “Let me know if you need any more blankets and pillows, I just did a fresh load of laundry so they won’t be in the usual closet.”

Neil led Noah to the bathroom to brush his teeth while Andrew brought their bags into their bedroom, made up like it always was whenever he stayed the night at Abby’s. It seemed so long ago since he slept in that bed by himself, huddled by the wall with a locked door and a bottle of whiskey every day to curve withdrawal that summer before Neil came along. Neil had filled the rest of the bed like he filled up every other empty crevice in Andrew’s life.

Noah came to the bedroom dressed in his Mario pajamas, plopping down face-first onto the bed with little regard to sleeping arrangements. Andrew had pulled on some sweatpants and two layers of long-sleeved shirts, then opened the window to let in a little bit of a breeze. Neil walked in a few minutes later without his armbands and joined Noah on the bed, curling around the pillow near the headboard.

“Are you sure?” Neil asked, watching Andrew as he grabbed an extra pillow and opened the door to leave. Andrew nodded, locking the door behind him before shutting it softly.

He grabbed a few blankets from the laundry room and settled down on the leather couch opposite the television, pulling the blankets up to his chin. Abby’s street was residential, so there were only a few cars that passed by, their headlights shining through the large bay window and lighting up the otherwise darkened room. Living rooms were never much of an issue for him. Back when he was being handed between foster homes, Andrew often opted for couches over beds. He had discovered pretty early on that wandering hands were more hesitant when they weren’t muffled by locked doors.

The clock in the hallway was a familiar sound, the ticking of the second hand a cadence he commonly fell asleep to ever since Neil bought an annoying cuckoo clock at Ikea. He finally fell asleep after several hours, an all-new record in a place that wasn’t their cozy apartment.

 

oOo  

 

Andrew woke up to the sound of someone rummaging around in the entryway closet, shoes and boots hitting the hollow sliding doors. He opened his eyes to find Neil pulling on his running shoes. It was probably an ungodly hour of the morning, judging by the rising sun poking through the bay window.

Several minutes passed as Andrew dozed, expecting to hear the front door opening and closing as his junkie went on a run. He opened his eyes to find Neil standing at the end of the couch, his eyes soft as he stared unabashedly. “Staring.” Andrew whispered, mindful of the sleeping child in the next room. He was warm but not sweaty, covered in blankets, two layers of clothes, and a pillow crushed against the right side of his face. He was surprisingly comfortable after spending the night on a leather couch.

Neil grinned cheekily, continuing where he left off with getting ready by tucking his hair behind a garish orange bandana. “I’ll be back in an hour.” He whispered back.

Andrew nodded towards the bedroom, where he knew Neil left his cellphone. Neil understood immediately and quietly snuck back into the room, pointedly holding the phone in his hand as he reentered the living room. He gave Andrew a two-fingered salute before leaving the house, closing the door with a soft _snick_.

Andrew debated getting up and starting the coffee and toast before any of the other Foxes could wake up and ruin the peace. He glanced at the clock in the hallway and made up his mind to go back to sleep, knowing he would no doubt wake up the moment someone else in the house emerged from their room. He shifted a little on the couch to find a more comfortable position, and then drifted back to sleep with little to no effort.

He woke up again little more than an hour later, the right side of his pillow wet with drool and the blankets around him mussed and tangled. He must have been sleeping heavily, considering Neil had probably come back and taken a shower without waking him. He glanced at the clock and groaned. So much for avoiding people.

He entered the bedroom and threw on a pair of jeans, a black shirt and his armbands, bundling his sleep clothes and throwing them in a corner of the room. The chirping of birds filtered in through the open window, an annoying repetitive sound that would probably be stuck in his head the rest of the day. He clamped the window shut and then went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, not meeting anybody on his way through the hallway.

He found Neil, Noah, and Abby in the kitchen. Noah perched on the counter while Abby and Neil cut up ingredients, offering the kid occasional taste-testing scraps of whatever meal they were preparing. “Morning Andrew,” Abby greeted. She motioned towards the coffee pot with a paring knife, “There’s coffee. You know where the milk and sugar is.”

Andrew busied himself with getting his favorite mug down from the cabinet and filling it with an appropriate amount of sugar. He poured in the milk and coffee in equal parts and then joined Noah at the counter, offering the kid a single drink before taking the rest for himself.

“Nicky and the girls went shopping,” Neil said, glancing at the clock on the stove, “we figured they’d be back when they got hungry.”

Andrew nodded, “And how did you like Allison?” he asked Noah.

The kid shrugged and took a proffered piece of bacon from Neil, letting it hang from his mouth as he answered, “She has really long nails. But she was nice.”

They had told Renee to go ahead and let Allison in on the big “secret” and they hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing her reaction yet. She seemed to get the seal of approval from the kid, so Andrew probably wouldn’t have reason to strap on his knives just yet. He tried to get more information from Neil, but the redhead just grinned and bit down on a piece of bacon. Idiot.

“Nicky wants to take Noah with them this afternoon,” Neil said, skirting around Abby while she put what looked like a casserole into the oven, “I told him to wait until you woke up.”

“More shopping?”

“The mall,” Neil paused to pop a piece of green pepper in his mouth, “they want to get Noah some new clothes.”

“I don’t need new clothes.” Noah piped in, crossing his arms indignantly, “You guys bought me these clothes. I don’t need anymore.”

The kid was still in his Mario pajamas, a sweatshirt thrown over what was probably a plain t-shirt that they bought at Walmart his first week home. They hadn’t had time to go shopping at the mall and just bought a pack of t-shirts, jeans, and pajamas on their way home from the courthouse. Beyond the clothes he needed for Little League, the kid hadn’t expressed any interest in going shopping for more. “We’ll go shopping this afternoon,” Andrew said. At Noah’s frown, he tacked on, “Or you can wear tank tops and shorts in the winter, I don’t care.”

Abby laughed as she reached over and patted Noah on the knee. Andrew bristled at the casual touch, but he tried not to react outwardly. “Let them spoil you, Noah.” Abby said, like she was sharing a secret with the kid.

Noah made a face, but kept quiet about the decision. Andrew gave him the last sip of his coffee as a reward, and then helped Abby and Neil clean up while they waited for the casserole to cook. It was another hour before they heard the front door opening, the loud bickering voices of Nicky and Allison already starting to get on Andrew’s nerves.

Renee entered the kitchen, her arms loaded with a baby carrier and several shopping bags, a pair of sunglasses perched on the top of her head and a Starbucks frappuccino in hand. She wordlessly handed the drink over to Andrew and set the baby carrier next to Noah, who perked up at her entrance and immediately started cooing at the baby swaddled inside the carrier. “Good morning, Andrew.” She greeted, setting her groceries on the kitchen table. Neil and Abby helped her unpack the bags while Allison and Nicky lingered in the hallway, their debate about dogs versus cats rising in volume the longer they argued.

Andrew nodded in greeting and took a couple sips of the drink she gave him. It was a caramel frappuccino with mocha chips, his and Renee’s favorite drink to get after a round of sparring. He handed it to Noah, mindful of the coffee they had already shared that morning, and took it back after the kid took a few sips.

“Do you guys need any help with lunch?” Renee offered, unbuckling Patrick from his carrier and balancing him on her hip. He giggled happily as Noah made faces at him, stretching his mouth with his fingers and sticking his tongue out to look as ridiculous as possible. Renee looked down at the kid and winked.

“It’s about ready to come out of the oven. Neil, Andrew, why don’t you set the table?” Abby asked, gesturing to the plate cabinet. “Renee, if you want to call David to let him know that the food’s ready, that would be very helpful.”

Renee left with her cell phone in hand and Patrick on her hip. While Noah helped Andrew and Neil set the table, Nicky and Allison finally joined everyone in the kitchen and helped Abby plate the casserole. It was another ten minutes before Wymack showed up, a couple pies balanced in one hand and a six pack of beer in the other. He was wearing his signature wife beater and a pair of cut-off shorts, fitting for a coach of a major collegiate team. Abby greeted him at the door, giving him a kiss on the cheek much to the joy of the foxes present. They had settled the bet on the coach and Abby’s relationship in their junior year, when Kevin had accidentally walked in on them making out in Wymack’s apartment. He was too embarrassed to tell the foxes right away, but Andrew got it out of him after a couple rounds at Eden’s.

Neil pressed in close the moment Wymack entered the kitchen, his eyes tracking Noah while the kid played with Patrick on the floor. Andrew followed his gaze, looked up at Wymack, and then nodded at Neil. Coach was about the same size as Gary Reidland.

Noah seemed to notice the same moment Andrew did, his eyes widening as the coach stepped forward to give Nicky a pat on the back. “You run interference,” Andrew said to Neil under his breath, only drawing the attention of Renee who stood beside them. She sent him a curious look, but Andrew waved off her concern, watching Neil as he greeted Wymack.

Coach grinned and patted Neil on the head as soon as he said hello. It took years before Neil stopped flinching from that simple gesture, a lifetime of abuse keeping him from fully appreciating the man. Wymack took it in stride, however, always understanding when Neil needed space. The man had become some sort of weird father figure for most of the foxes, something that Andrew pretended to ignore for the sake of Neil’s sanity. Andrew left them to it and crouched down next to Noah, chin in hand as he watched the kid stare warily at the coach.

“What do you need?” Andrew asked, drawing the kid’s attention to him. Noah was obviously shaken, his hands trembling as he clutched at his sweater sleeves. “We can leave, but then Abby’s casserole would go to waste.”

Noah chewed on his bottom lip while he thought about it. Renee leaned down to pick Patrick off the floor, cupping the blanket around his bottom so it wouldn’t slip off, and hovered close by in case Andrew needed help. “Is that Coach?” Noah asked, his eyes never leaving Wymack as he chatted with Neil.

Andrew nodded, “The most harmless person on the planet. Second only to Patrick, of course.”

Noah looked skeptical, but he scooted closer and at Andrew’s nod, threw his arms around the blonde’s neck. “I don’t want to leave.” He said, the words muffled against Andrew’s shirt collar.

Andrew rolled his eyes, “You’re getting too big for this.” but he wound his arms around the kid’s bottom and lifted him up anyways. “Hiding in plain sight works too, I guess.”

“I’ve been the same size this whole time,” Noah huffed, “and I’m not hiding.”  

Andrew hummed in mild agreement. The kid really was too light, something that he hoped Abby wouldn’t pick up on and shove a million vitamins and protein bars their way for. He and Neil were still trying to get through those supplemental vitamins she gave them the last time they visited, plus the kid was on a pretty strict diet mandated by his pediatrician and social worker.

Neil looked surprised when he saw Noah hanging off of Andrew, something that rarely happened unless the kid was asleep or well, sick. He ignored the shocked faces of everyone else around them, as well as the choked silence that overtook the room.

“Andrew, long time no see.” Wymack was the first to talk, his deep voice making Noah tense up in Andrew’s arms.

Andrew gave him a detached once-over, “Good to see you haven’t let yourself go, Coach.”

Wymack grunted, “Good to see you haven’t lost your sparkling personality. Is this Noah?”

“Nope,” Andrew said, “this is the other kid we adopted, Dr. Snuffles.”

Noah wriggled in his grasp, bracing himself with two hands on Andrew’s shoulders so he could look indignantly at the blonde. Andrew stared back at him with a blank face. Meanwhile, Nicky and Neil were practically doubled over laughing at the kid’s expense. Andrew raised an eyebrow, expecting some kind of retort, but Noah remained quiet.

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Dr. Snuffles.” Wymack said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. At least he wasn’t attempting to shake the kid’s hand or hug him or some shit. Andrew didn’t have the patience to deal with a freak out at the moment.

“Well that was entertaining. Is lunch ready yet?” Allison asked, taking Patrick from Renee and strapping him into the travel high chair they brought with them.

Abby moved around the kitchen in a flurry of motion, pulling out fruit, setting out napkins, and cutting the casserole into sections. Andrew sat Noah in the farthest chair away from Wymack, right next to Patrick. He seemed happy with the arrangement, so Andrew figured he’d be fine for the rest of lunch. They ate family style, passing the food across the table to those that yelled loud enough, a throwback to when they would spend dinners at Abby’s every summer night in between school years. Nicky hogged the mashed potatoes while Noah piled his plate with an obscene amount of crescent rolls. Neil rolled his eyes and split the bread between Andrew’s plate and Noah’s, then gave himself a generous scoop of green beans.

Renee led Andrew in a debate about the most recent horror movies while Abby coerced Noah into talking about his school activities. Allison and Nicky jumped in with their opinions every once in awhile, and soon enough the whole table was discussing fake movie blood and that one film they all watched together near the end of the school year. Noah looked lost, but he was distracted by the apple pie that Wymack pulled out of the oven towards the end of the meal. He flinched a little when Wymack reached between him and Patrick to set the pie on the table, and it didn’t miss the coach’s attention.

Wymack slowly retracted his hand, his eyes tracking back and forth between the kid and Andrew. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. It was all in the quirk of his eyebrow and the fatherly concern that showed on his face when he looked back at the kid. Andrew matched his gaze with a blank face, his patience wearing thinner the longer Wymack stood close to Noah.

“Noah, you should shower before we leave,” Neil said quietly from beside Andrew. Wymack sighed in defeat and sat down in his spot at the other end of the table while Noah looked betrayed.

“I don’t need to shower, I showered on… Friday.” He said, crossing his arms.

“Exactly.” Andrew grimaced.

“Ew,” Allison piped in, wrinkling her nose, “I’m surprised you don’t reek.”

Noah huffed and climbed out of his chair, sending Neil a pointed look, “I’m going, but you owe me Dairy Queen.”

Neil shrugged, “Wear something other than your Mario pants and I’ll consider it.”  

The kid stuck his tongue out, much to Andrew’s annoyance, but he stopped in the bedroom before heading to the bathroom with a bundle of clothes tucked under his arm. Andrew was pleased to see his shoulders more relaxed as he walked across the hall.

“You watch him like a hawk,” Renee said as she spoonfed Patrick some apple pie filling. Andrew ignored her and helped himself to a slice, dolloping a mound of whipped cream on top of it. He could practically hear Kevin’s disappointed sigh from all the way in West Virginia.

“When are the Queens coming to town?” He asked, licking the spoon and then sticking it back into the whipped cream tub.

“Tomorrow,” Abby answered as she frowned at Andrew’s actions, “They’re carpooling with Aaron and his family.”

Ah. The other Minyard. Andrew smashed his slice of pie with his fork, the apple guts spilling out onto the tablecloth. He hadn’t talked to Aaron since their joint session with Bee last winter, and that was before they met Noah. It wasn’t because they still hated each other, but simply because their lives were hectic. Aaron was in the middle of his residency while Andrew was busy well… being the number one ranked goalkeeper in Exy, making sure a certain idiot stayed alive, and adopting a smart-mouthed kid out of a bad home. He would occasionally come home to find Neil skyping with Katelyn, but other than that their interactions were limited to therapy sessions and emergencies. He wasn’t looking forward to breaking the Noah News to Aaron, having procrastinated calling his brother to the point of just waiting until it became a problem. It was a problem now.

“So how is Noah adjusting? Are the sessions with Bee helping any?” Renee asked, redirecting the conversation back to Noah. She was micromanaging the situation, expecting Wymack, Abby, Allison, and Nicky to bombard them with the same questions later, but with little to no tact. Andrew both appreciated and despised her nosiness.

Neil looked to him for an answer, knowing that Andrew had spent more nights with Noah after his therapy sessions. They typically went out for ice cream afterwards, sometimes in complete silence with the windows rolled down and the music turned up, and sometimes Noah would talk to him about it and Andrew would be silent for both of them, listening to the kid’s vivid nightmares and fears with a well-trained ear. “His nightmares are getting more frequent,” Andrew said, pushing away his mangled slice of pie, “we’re working on it.”

Renee hummed, “I would assume he’s settling into his new environment,”

“And the more he settles, the worse the nightmares get.” Andrew finished for her, wanting the conversation to end just as fast as it started. He seemed to hold everyone’s attention at the moment, and he wasn’t keen on talking about the kid when he wasn’t there to talk for himself.

“We’re working on it,” Neil reiterated, standing up to help clear the table, “he falls asleep pretty quickly after he wakes up, and he’s getting good grades in his classes.”

“They’re like proud parents, isn’t it cute?” Nicky laughed.

Neil paused in picking up the casserole dish to glare at him, “He’s working hard for his own sake. That’s all we ask of him.”

Abby reached across the table to cover Neil’s hand with hers, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. “You’re doing a great job. Both of you.”

“From what I’ve seen and heard,” Wymack added, his arms crossed as he leaned back in his seat, “I don’t know anyone else who could’ve taken care of this kid as well as you two have. You should be proud of yourselves.”

Neil, the emotionally stunted idiot, looked completely lost at the coach’s sentiment. Andrew clucked his tongue and stood up from the table, his chair making an obscene scraping sound on the linoleum tile, “And that’s as sappy as it needs to get.” He said, picking up the pie before leaving for the kitchen. He figured Abby might have some tupperware that he could pack the pie in, as well as a permanent marker that he could use to mark it as his.

Neil joined him in the kitchen a moment later and set the casserole dish in the sink, his movements jerky and awkward as he started to fill it up with water. Andrew met his eyes and leaned on the counter next to him, watching absently as the redhead scrubbed at the casserole dish with agitated vigor. “It’s not hard,” Andrew said, knowing that Neil would understand his meaning.

“Noah is easy,” Neil said after awhile, gritting his teeth as he scrubbed at a particular spot, “he’s not in the same circumstances.”

“Your circumstances or mine?”

Neil paused in his cleaning, setting the sponge down so he could stare aimlessly out the window in front of him. “Why is taking care of Noah so easy?”

“Wrong. Ask a better question.” Andrew said, his eyes tracking a spider as it crawled across the ceiling.

“I’ve been angry with him, I’ve been annoyed, but I’ve never once thought about…” He trailed off, his shoulders rising to meet his ears. His unsaid words weighed down the brightness of the kitchen, past memories flooding the room until air was sparse and each breath felt like lead in their lungs. They took to it like old enemies, recognizing their childhood abuse for what it was; in the past. Gone and done with like trash on the side of the road. “We shouldn’t be proud of ourselves just for taking care of another human being. For just doing the standard.”

“The bar has never been so low.” Andrew agreed. He didn’t understand it either, how someone could go through hours upon hours of bloody, messy childbirth and then decide that it wasn’t worth it, that the child they were so determined to have just wasn’t up to snuff. How could they forget about the nine months it took to grow the child that they then despised. How could they hit a kid whose fingers could barely hold all five of theirs. How could they look into the same blue eyes, the ones that stared back at them day in and day out in the bathroom mirror, and carve into that child’s skin like he was nothing. Andrew would never forget every face, every scar, every story, and he knew that he and Neil had nothing to be proud of.

He watched the spider disappear into one of the overhead lights as he bundled up his memories and set them on the endless curb.

“We can do more.” Neil said, his hands once more working at the casserole dish in the sink.

“Noah needs the standard right now,” Andrew said, reaching around him to grab the drying cloth, “we can do more when he gets bored of it.”

Neil passed him the dish, dripping wet and still covered in soap suds. “If he’s anything like us, he’ll never get bored of it.”

“That’s the sad part, isn’t it?” Andrew mused, flicking water at Neil’s face. He found his lip twitching at the way the redhead stood there and took it, completely unamused as water dripped down his forehead.

They could never be perfect parents. They could never be what other people expected them to be, a perfect family with a perfect life and a perfect, spotless past. But they could be better than the trash on the side of the road. They could do that for Noah.

 

oOo

 

“No.”

“It’s adorable, Andrew, come on!” Nicky pouted, gesturing at Noah who was currently twirling about outside the fitting room.

Andrew crossed his arms, “I already have one junkie, I don’t need two.”

Allison came up behind Noah, lifting the hood of the jacket up and over his head of curls. Two little fox ears were sewn into the top of the hood, completing the orange ensemble. “I think it’s perfect.” She said as she smiled at the kid’s reflection.

“Wait, why am I in this?” Neil asked, his arms ladened with hundreds of clothes that Allison insisted Noah should have. They might have to make another stop at Ikea to grab the kid a bigger dresser at this rate.

“Does it come in Neil’s size?” Nicky jokingly asked the fitting room attendant, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else. After shopping nonstop for the last three hours, Neil could easily relate.

“I like it,” Noah said quietly, and that was that. The kid rarely voiced his opinions on any of the other clothes, merely trying on the ones Allison threw at him and reverently handing them over to Neil at the register.

“Of course the kid likes the stupid fox coat out of everything.” Andrew said under his breath, but he handed Neil his credit card regardless.

Allison nodded decidedly and helped Noah out of the coat, throwing it on top of Neil’s ridiculously large pile. “All right, what’s next?”

Nicky held up his phone, “Abby wants us to pick up ingredients for s’mores. I think Matt, Dan, and the twins are coming over.”

Noah’s face lit up at the mention of Matt, his dimples appearing like craters in his cheeks. “Uncle Matt!” He exclaimed, tugging on the bottom of Neil’s shirt.

“Do you still want Dairy Queen, or is Matt more important now?” Neil asked, leading the way towards the cash register.

Noah frowned and nodded at Andrew, “I don’t think it’s your decision at this point.”

Well that was sly. Andrew flicked the kid in the forehead just as Nicky gave a scandalized gasp. “Just for that, you’re sharing with Neil.”

The kid looked cowed, pouting as he rubbed his forehead and hung back next to Nicky. Two hundred dollars and several shopping bags later, their group finally exited the last store and found their way to the food court. Noah bounced on the balls of his feet while they waited in line for ice cream, his eyes never leaving his shoes the entire time the adults ordered. Neil wasn’t planning on getting anything, but one look at the kid’s face had him ordering a small strawberry smoothie regardless. Andrew shared a significant look with Neil for that as he licked chocolate fudge off his red spoon. They might have to discuss discipline more often if the kid’s smart mouth started resembling theirs.

Andrew finally gave in when they reached Allison’s convertible, handing his half-eaten chocolate blizzard to Noah in the backseat when he didn’t even bother to share Neil’s smoothie. He took one bite and then handed it back, seemingly uninterested in eating the rest of it.

They stopped at the store closest to Abby’s house and picked up stuff for s’mores, Andrew sneaking in three extra bags of marshmallows when Neil wasn’t looking. He didn’t realize it until they got to the register, but Andrew still hadn’t discovered that he replaced the sugar in their kitchen with lowfat sweetener yet, so he let it go. Nicky and Allison snuck to the back of the store to pick up alcohol, but made sure to hide it in the trunk before Noah could see the tell-tale brown bags and cases of six packs. Andrew vowed to kick Nicky’s ass if he tried to pull those out before the kid went to sleep.

Matt’s minivan was already in the driveway by the time they got back, a stark contrast to the rental sports car Andrew picked out and Allison’s pink convertible. It was odd, how they all took to parenthood eventually but still remained true to themselves, all the way down to the cars they drove. Neil mused on the possibilities of Andrew buying a minivan, but dismissed the idea as soon as it came to him.

After they divided the shopping and grocery bags, their group walked into Abby’s house like it was their own. Nicky was still belting out the song that was playing on the radio, while Noah and Allison hurriedly threw their bags in the entryway and went in search of Matt and Dan. Andrew and Neil gathered the discarded bags and brought them into the kitchen, dodging a wayward twin as she darted in between Neil’s legs.   

“Watch where you’re going, sweetheart!” Dan yelled, just as the child was caught by Wymack and hoisted over his shoulder. She squealed with delight, kicking her legs up and down as she wiggled to get out of the man’s grasp. Dan, Allison, and Abby sat at the kitchen table, conversing with Renee as she breastfed Patrick.

“Neil!”

Neil dropped his bags just as the giant backliner ran towards him with his arms outstretched. He was immediately enveloped in a tight hug, his feet leaving the ground for a solid minute before being gently eased back down. “Hey Matt,” Neil greeted, accepting Matt’s customary hair ruffle.

“Matt!” Noah yelled, coming up from behind Andrew. He must have gotten there before them, but was too shy to meet everyone on his own. He held Andrew’s shirt sleeve in a loose grip, waiting for the backliner to make the first move.

“Noah buddy!” Matt crouched down and opened his arms, waiting patiently for Noah to decide what he wanted to do. The kid stepped forward and was hugged within an inch of his life, his legs naturally wrapping themselves around Matt’s hips as he was lifted off the ground. “I missed you! It’s been like two weeks since our last skype date, bud.”

Noah giggled as Matt reached up to ruffle his mop of curls. Dan came up behind them, Benjamin resting against her hip, and offered Neil an awkward side-hug. “You guys might have to move up closer, he’s been talking nonstop about meeting Noah in person.” She said, watching the two of them affectionately. Noah was going on a rant about his little league team, his hands waving about as he explained drills while Matt listened attentively.

“Trading season is coming up,” Neil said thoughtfully, glancing at Andrew as the blonde went about unpacking groceries and dodging Rylie as she ran around the small space, “we haven’t talked about it though.” Their coach wouldn’t sell them both off without receiving Kevin Day himself in return, but they’ve pulled off worse. It would be nice to be closer to more of the Foxes. Renee was close by, but not close enough when he felt homesick. There was also the issue of Noah’s sessions with Bee. They told Reading that they would figure it out, but so far the kid had been doing his sessions over skype and phone, and that probably wasn’t effective enough.

Dan gave him a knowing smile and then turned to the kitchen, where Andrew was preparing coffee while working around a sugar-hyped five year old. “Rylie Abigail, leave Uncle Andrew alone please.”

Andrew stopped what he was doing and glared at his former captain, a packet of sugar held loosely in his hand. When the twins were born, Nicky had insisted that everyone was either an “uncle” or an “auntie” and it kind of stuck from day one, much to Andrew’s annoyance. Neil was surprised to find that he didn’t mind when the twins called him “Uncle Neil.”

Rylie ran out from behind the counter, her braids flapping behind her, and latched onto Dan’s legs. “Mommy, who’s that?” She asked loudly, pointing at Noah.

“Who this?” Matt bounced Noah in his arms, the kid laughing happily as he clutched onto the backliner’s t-shirt. “This is -- hey kid, what’s your full name?”

Noah frowned, “Noah.” He answered.

Matt laughed, “No bud, your full name. Middle and last, cough it up.”

The kid looked at Neil, his brows furrowed in confusion. They hadn’t really discussed his full name, beyond that day at the courthouse when they signed all the papers. The adoption process happened so fast that the kid wasn’t very keen on asking too many questions. Neil looked at Andrew, a mug held up to the goalkeeper’s lips as if he paused in the middle of taking a sip. His hand curled into a fist for a moment before he loosened it, his expression turning blank before lifting his head and pinning Noah with a stare. “Noah Allen Minyard-Josten.” Andrew said, rolling the name off his tongue as if he were speaking Noah into existence. It felt real, as real as it felt to list themselves as his parents on his physical forms for little league, to sign in for parent-teacher conferences as his dad’s, to nod in acknowledgement when the judge asked them _Are you the guardians?_

Noah glanced between Andrew and Neil, and then nodded as if he knew the answer all along. “Noah Allen Minyard-Josten.” He parroted to Matt.

Matt grinned and ruffled his hair again, and then leaned down to address his daughter. “This is your new cousin, Noah.”

“Oh, cool.” Rylie said, right before she sprinted off towards Wymack for a little more roughhousing. Dan bounced Benjamin in her arms, trying to get him to say hi, but the kid refused to move his head from the crook of her neck. She eventually gave up, giving Nicky a high five before joining Andrew in the kitchen to help unpack groceries.

Matt and Noah continued talking about little league while the rest of them sat down to catch up. It was slightly surreal, being able to sit down with people he had known for the majority of his life and recap the last couple of months. Neil sipped at his coffee and laughed at Nicky’s adventures in Stuttgart with Erik, and then shared a sympathetic smile as Dan talked about the difficulties of coaching a new group of Foxes. Allison laid Patrick down for a nap after awhile and Wymack ordered pizzas, while Matt and Nicky excitedly discussed the movie night they were all going to have after the bonfire. Andrew stood just behind Neil’s chair, refilling their coffees whenever needed and running interference when Rylie got a little too excited playing tag with her brother. The twins weren’t afraid of Andrew by any means, much to the confusion of their parents, but they knew when someone didn’t want to be played with. Neil assumed it came from growing up on the same field as Foxes, knowing where to step and who to bother.      

Noah hung off of Matt for the most part, but when Wymack sat a little too close to him he sneakily climbed under the table and clambered into Neil’s lap. His attempts at being quiet about it were in vain, but at least no one drew attention to him.

After several boxes of pizza were emptied, Nicky and Matt went to work starting a bonfire in the backyard. It was still light out, but judging from how long it was taking them just to get a log to catch fire, it would be dark by the time they could break out the s’mores. The girls set up lawn chairs around the pit, including tiny miniature ones for the twins.

Neil snuck out the front door when no one but Andrew was looking. The blonde simply raised an eyebrow at him and tapped his pocket, where his own cellphone was. Neil nodded, having already put his phone in his sweatshirt, and closed the door silently behind him.

Two runs in one day was hardly abnormal, but the anxiousness in his stomach was telling him to take off and never stop. The rhythmic sound of his shoes slapping against the pavement matched his racing heart, sweat beading above his eyebrows as he lapped Abby’s neighborhood twice and then started running the familiar route towards Palmetto State’s campus. He didn’t want to say anything about the bonfire, but he could already feel the grit of sand between his teeth and smell burnt flesh in the evening wind.

He stopped running when he found the entrance to the Foxhole Court, the familiar orange and white concrete like a lighthouse in the darkness of the setting sun. He didn’t know the keycode to get in anymore, and even though he could easily guess it he didn’t bother to even approach the entrance. It wasn’t his home anymore, it wouldn’t bring him comfort in the midst of bad memories and panic attacks. He didn’t know when he started thinking of it as just another place he could come back to and reminisce, like Abby’s house, Wymack’s apartment, or the Fox Tower. It wasn’t anything like Andrew’s calloused hand as he passed a cigarette to Neil on the roof, like Andrew’s breathy moan as Neil kissed his neck just like he wanted him to, like days spent in each other’s company just reading or watching Exy reruns, the cats purring on their laps.

As Neil lapped around the court and started his journey back to Abby’s house, he mused on the possibilities of another home. A home that not only included Andrew, but also Noah. Noah Allen Minyard-Josten. It had a nice ring to it.

 

oOo

 

The sound of laughter filtered in through the kitchen from the porch doors, accompanied by the occasional delighted screaming as the twins burnt marshmallows on sticks found in the backyard. Neil sat on the kitchen counter, his legs swinging back and forth as he watched Andrew pull cookies out of the oven. He could see the bonfire, now fully formed and burning wildly, in the corner of his eye, but his attention was lost in the movements of Andrew’s hands as he plucked a cookie off the pan and popped it in his mouth. It should have been too hot to eat, but Andrew munched on it with a blank face, watching the chaos outside the windows and ignoring Neil’s obvious staring.

Noah stood outside with Matt, a marshmallow on the tip of his stick as he stared at the bonfire several feet ahead of him. Neil watched as Matt tried to coerce him into stepping further, a hand on the kid’s back and a concerned look to his face. “What do you think?” Andrew asked, drawing Neil’s attention away from the scene outside.

Neil shrugged, “It’s probably the heat.”

Andrew nodded and set down a half-eaten cookie, the fifth one he had stolen from the batch. He wiped the crumbs from his hands off on Neil’s jeans and then left out the sliding glass doors, making sure to be quick about it so the smell of the bonfire didn’t reach inside the house. He waved Matt away from Noah and then crouched down in front of the kid. Neil couldn’t hear what he was saying, but a minute later Noah handed his stick over to Andrew and walked inside the house.

“Don’t worry, he won’t burn it.” Neil said, watching as Andrew impassively held the marshmallow above the bonfire, much to the joy of the Foxes around him. He looked away and focused on Noah, the flames licking at the edge of his vision.

Noah nodded, “I trust him.” He said, joining Neil in the kitchen. He looked at the counter dubiously, but before he could ask Neil hopped down and lifted him by the armpits so he could sit next to the sink. They sat side by side, feet bouncing off of the cabinets below them as they pounded out a random rhythm. Neil snuck a few cookies while Noah watched his marshmallow like a hawk.

“Why aren’t you outside?” Noah asked.

Neil hummed, “I don’t like fire either.”

“Is it…” Noah trailed off, gesturing at his cheek, the same side where Neil’s burns were.

Neil shook his head, allowing himself a moment of hesitation before he looked Noah in the eyes. “My mom died,” He said, swallowing down a lump in his throat, “and I had to burn everything afterwards.” _Including her,_ “So I don’t like bonfires.”

Noah nodded in understanding and brought his feet up onto the counter, his arms wrapping around his knees as he held them close to his chest. “I don’t like the heat. It reminds me of the cigarettes.” It felt like his and Andrew’s game, a truth for a truth. He forgot that he had taught it to Noah, a long time ago in a library bathroom.

Neil did the same with his legs, resting his chin on his knees as he watched the twins messily eat their s’mores. “You’re very strong,” He said quietly, nudging Noah’s shoulder with his own, “just like your parents.”

Noah made a face, “I hope you mean you and Andrew.”

Neil laughed, the sound of it blending in with the laughter outside. It seemed right, like it belonged in the space created between them. “Yeah, I meant me and Andrew.”

“If you’re talking about me, stop.” Andrew said, sliding the glass door shut behind him. Noah’s face lit up at the s’more held between his two fingers, complete with chocolate and two pieces of graham crackers.

Andrew handed it over, licking melted marshmallow and chocolate off his fingers as soon as the kid had it in his possession. He leaned with his back to the counter, wedged in between Neil and Noah. They watched as the twins, Matt, and Nicky ran around the yard with sparklers, creating momentary letters and shapes in the air like impressions in an otherwise dark night.   

The three of them were content to wait inside for the night to die down, never ones to be overly loud or in the thick of activity. It was strange how alike Noah was to Neil and Andrew, his attitude and shy disposition something that aligned him with the two, which probably contributed to how fast the adoption process went. They had become a makeshift family just like Neil had always done things; quickly and impulsively. Andrew could be blamed for his encouragement, but really Neil couldn’t envision any other situation where they would have ended up with a kid. It was strange and patched together like mismatching patterns on a quilt, but then again, that was who they always had been. Noah fit, just like their cats and their apartment and their family of Foxes. Who were they to deny a kid that was always meant to be a part of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaand there you have it folks - This chapter was very Andreil-centric with a couple Foxes splashed in, so i apologize for that, there will be more Foxes in chapter 6 (probably)
> 
> Next chapter: LABOR DAY! Queens! The Twins and Noah! Announcements! Popo!?


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